JOURNEY OF GENDER IDENTITY IN INDIA FROM MYTHOLOGY TO THE THIRD GENDER

Abstract

Every person has a right to life as per article 21 of the Indian Constitution which has a wide horizon to give us almost all the essential rights to survive but there is a community who got this basic right almost after 67 years from independence, that too when there is evidence to prove that this community was always been mentioned and respected in our culture. The right to identify your gender is a basic right. In 2014, The Supreme court of India recognizes this secluded community as “Third Gender”. This journey was not a piece of cake, transgenders were criminalized in the 17th century during the colonial era, which means almost 4 to 5 generations suffered atrocities, discrimination, harassment, embarrassment, and marginalization from society. This paper deals with the mythological evidence of transgenders in our culture and their Journey from the ancient era to becoming the third gender.