India's first transgender journo faces gender bias in Naval ship
Synopsis
In an incident that exposed the gender bias of the society, Apsara Reddy, India's first transgender journalist, went through a harrowing experience at the hands of soldiers when she went to prepare a feature on the warship stationed at the Chennai port on Sunday.
Reddy, the chief editor of lifestyle magazine Provoke, was stopped by security guard saying that transgender people are not allowed on board the ship.
"These type of people are not allowed on the ship, they told me. And when they said 'these type,' they were talking about me. They also made a comment, 'Is that a male or female?' Reddy, who holds a bachelors degree in Journalism from Monash University and an MA in Broadcasting from the City University of London, told Asianet News.
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Reddy, who has worked for BBC World Service, The Hindu, Commonwealth Secretariat in London, The New Indian Express and Deccan Chronicle says that despite giving a complaint mentioning the names of the security guards who stopped her there has been no action from the navy or harbour officials.
Reddy has been receiving a lot of social media support on the issue and said she would write to the Human Rights Commission and the Union Government over the behaviour of the two officers.