“Education is my fundamental right. Why am I not being granted equal rights as an Indian citizen? The Supreme Court has already given the judgement. What more do they want?" asked S Tamilselvi, a transgender woman, in a video, The News Minute reported. Tamilselvi who had recently joined a nursing course in a private college at Vellore, was told to leave the course because of her sexuality.
Tamilselvi was born a man but underwent sex reassignment surgery in 2015. The transgender woman from Tamil Nadu realised her true sexuality and made the decision to come out openly
“It was not my mistake to be born as a transgender, so why punish me?” asked Tamilselvi. According to The News Indian Express report, a true believer of equal rights, Tamilselvi has been fighting a lone battle for several months now that her admission was cancelled abruptly.
Also read: Weaving magic for transgender women: A unique initiative by a Kerala designer
The Directorate of Medical Education told the college “only female candidates are eligible to apply for Diploma in Nursing courses”
Tamilselvi was always a stellar student even at school, She scored 757 marks in Class XII, and aspired to study further. She saw her mother struggle every day to make the ends meet and wanted to put an end to it.
She worked as domestic help with her mother and save up some money to join college. “I was so happy to wear the nurse uniform, my college and classmates accepted me. I thought my sufferings finally came to an end. But, that dream was short-lived,” said Tamilselvi.
READ: Activist Akkai Padmashali is the first transgender woman to be awarded Honorary doctorate
However, just one month after her enrolment, Tamilselvi was told to leave.
According to the New Indian Express, as per the Tamil Nadu Nursing Council, which has to register all students joining nursing courses, there is no separate column for transgender people. Later, she went and tried registering herself as a female student, but the directorate refused that too. Meanwhile, the college authorities have refused to refund the Rs 30,000 Tamilselvi had paid at the time of joining the course.
READ: Kami Sid – Pakistan’s First Trans Model’s Debut Photoshoot
Feature Image Credit: Indiatimes.com
Read More Stories By Ria Das
Follow Us/shethepeople/media/post_banners/gNIjt0ZoJhRKFvqldLek.jpg)
/shethepeople/media/agency_attachments/iUYfaBbcMozaYLoGnoov.png)
