{"id":18237,"date":"2015-01-05T03:01:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-05T03:01:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-10-15T11:01:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T11:01:41","slug":"meet-india-s-first-transgender-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=18237","title":{"rendered":"Meet India\u2019s first transgender mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"

A city in central India has elected the country\u2019s first transgender mayor, nine months after a court ruled that transgender be recognized as a legal third gender, local media reported.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Madhu Kinnar, 35, won the mayoral election in Raigarh in the mineral-rich state of Chhattisgarh yesterday, beating her opponent from the governing Bharatiya Janata Party by more than 4,500 votes, the Press Trust of India reported in a story published on the news website Firstpost.com.<\/p>\n

Television images showed a sari-clad Kinnar, with a large red bindi on her forehead, greeting supporters who placed marigold garlands around her neck.<\/p>\n

Kinnar \u2014 who is from the Dalit or \u201clow caste\u201d community and used to earn a living singing and dancing in trains \u2014 said that she was overwhelmed by her election.<\/p>\n

Activists say there are hundreds of thousands of transgender people in India, but because they were not legally recognized, they faced ostracism, discrimination, abuse and forced prostitution.<\/p>\n

Last April, India\u2019s Supreme Court recognized transgender as a legal third gender and called on the government to ensure their equal treatment.<\/p>\n

While the landmark judgment was welcomed by human rights campaigners, many say it contradicts the court\u2019s reinstatement of a gay sex ban that has resulted in an increase in the persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, forcing many to conceal their sexual identity.<\/p>\n