Equality for All

In this era of narrow-mindedness and fear-mongering, it is all the more important that educational establishments take on the responsibility of challenging the status quo and opening young minds to different versions of the same story.  I felt that our Junior School did just that this term by inviting a transgender woman in to speak to our students.  This may not seem such a big deal to some readers, but our school is situated in India, a country in which transgender people live almost exclusively on the margins of society and are frequently the subjects of abuse, discrimination and atrocities.

Ms Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli was invited in as a guest speaker to talk to our Grade 5 students and address the whole Junior School from the crèche upwards.  Although more used to audiences of college students and adults, Vyjayanti, a well-known transgender community activist and former student of Public Policy at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, pitched just right her presentation to our youngest learners.  She had everyone gripped as she explained what it means to be a transgender person, how the law and society has historically treated the community and how things are changing.  She shared her personal experiences (minus the harrowing detail) and challenged everyone in the audience to think differently.

Vyjayanti certainly wasn’t looking for our sympathy - why would such a poised, articulate and confident woman require that of us? - but her request was clear and simple; she wanted, for herself and the transgender community, respect and equality.  Unfortunately, in India, these two things are yet generally denied to this community, whose members are ostracised by their own families and have historically and structurally been constrained to be dependent on just two to three sources of livelihood: begging, sex work and/or blessing for alms. Vyjayanti’s situation is more fortunate than most in that she has been able to receive an education denied to most transgender people.  Having faced enormous struggles herself, she is now using her advantage to advocate for those unable to do so for themselves and provoking discussion on gender equality through public presentations.

While I can’t say for sure that all that she spoke of was fully understood by her young audience or that the prejudices ingrained in many of them would have been instantly reversed, but I certainly feel that everyone grew a little in the time we spent in her presence.  I was very keen that our youngest learners attended her assembly presentation because I feel strongly that one’s earliest experiences are deeply profound and form the way one looks at the world.  I asked my 4 year-old son to share with his father what he had learnt and he was pretty clear - treat everyone, whether male, female or transgender, kindly and equally.  

With pluralism sitting at the core of our school’s value system, this simple message resonated strongly with all of us present.  The Grade 5 students who presented a week later on their chosen issue of gender equality in their PYP Exhibition were able to share the message with the wider school community. For 10-Year olds in conservative India to be able to speak so freely and advocate for transgender equality is a small step in many ways but it gives hope that change is on its way and we can hope for a brighter future for all marginalised communities.

To hear Vyjayanti speak on transgender rights and the current situation in India, please check out her presentation, ‘Trans-cending Stigma’ at the 2018 TEDexCBIT event in Bangalore. https://youtu.be/dcRN51_V_a4

Connect with her via: 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VyjayantiMogli @Vyjayantimogli 

E mail: vyjayanti.vasanta.mogli@gmail.com 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/v.mogli.7 (Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli)