Breaking the Binary: Understanding Concerns and Realities of Queer Persons assigned Gender Female at Birth across a spectrum of lived gender identities

The terms PAGFB (Person(s) Assigned Gender Female at Birth) and PAGMB (Person(s) Assigned Gender Male at Birth) are used in the report. These terms understand that nobody is born with an innate gender. Gender is assigned to the individual based on “traditional conflation of sex”, particularly of the external genitalia. This assigned gender may or may not align with the person’s idea of their gender.

The respondents in the survey were all queer PAGFM, primarily from urban India and belonging to the cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Delhi, and Thrissur with two respondents from rural Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The respondents were from different age groups, with the sample including more younger individuals.

The interviews found that violence and discrimination were a part of most of the respondents’ experiences with their families. Natal families often tend to reproduce society’s homophobia, transphobia, and rigid gender binaries and stereotypes, the report states.

Schools proved to be a place of both comfort and discrimination for the respondents with some finding support from their teachers and classmates and other respondents feeling like formal education institutions reinforced gender roles and hierarchies. Data from the survey shows that PAGFB identifying as women were more inclined towards higher education to be independent or to resist pressure for marriage. Persons who are “gender transgressive” had higher dropout rates in school and college.

Workplaces were often characterized by sexual harassment, ridicule, surveillance, and expectations to dress and act in ways that aligned with their gender at birth. Several respondents took to working in the social sector - with community organizations and NGOs where they often found comfort and support.

While accessing public infrastructure like transport, public bathrooms, medical and police services, the respondents spoke of harassment and safety concerns. Other respondents highlighted the lack of knowledge regarding queer issues and bodies within the medical community.

While dealing with the body, many of the respondents identifying as male and those who have been categorized as “other” revealed their discomfort with their physical body, especially their breasts which is considered a direct marker of one’s gender in society. Sex reassignment surgery to remove the uterus and reconstructive bottom surgery were deemed too expensive and risky for most respondents.

The two intersex individuals interviewed recounted their experiences growing up and being raised as a particular gender despite feeling like they did not completely belong, and eventually reaching out to queer organizations for support. The need of the hour is access to accurate and non-pathologizing information about intersex individuals, the report adds.

The report makes recommendations to address family violence, school violence, issues of mental health, access to public spaces, and the hostility of state and medical institutions towards queer individuals. This violence is further determined by the person’s caste, class, and religious locations, the report adds. The recommendations include forming queer groups, running sustained campaigns against gender violence, de-emphasising gender in schools in uniform codes, sports and courses.

Focus and Factoids by Nivedita Sinha.

PARI Library’s health archive project is part of an initiative supported by the Azim Premji University to develop a free-access repository of health-related reports relevant to rural India.