Revathi: A Life in Trans Activism
A. Revathi
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From the publisher
Translated by Nandini Murali
One of the most pathbreaking and respected contemporary Indian activists illuminates how the personal intersects with the communal and institutional for trans Indians.
After moving from her family home in south India to a house of hijras in Delhi, Revathi returned to Bangalore to work for an NGO helping trans people like her. There, she progressed from office assistant to director, before eventually deciding to quit and continue her work as an independent activist—including collaborating with a theatre group performing a play based on her life. Throughout, she has been keen to interrogate discrimination within her own community, and opens up her story to include Indian trans men discussing their lived experience in their own words.
Against mainstream publishing’s preference for trauma-focused memoir, this book sets individual autobiography within the much larger context of the potential and pitfalls of institutional activism, the role of communal art forms, and marginalisation within the queer and trans community. Particularly relevant for an international audience is the specificity of the Indian context – caste, hijra culture, marginalisation of trans men - and how this intersects with the more western-centric discourse on trans people and trans rights.
“An unforgettable book, A Life in Trans Activism will leave the reader questioning the ‘safe’ and ‘comfortable’ binaries of male/female that so many of us take for granted.” – Feminism in India
One of the most pathbreaking and respected contemporary Indian activists illuminates how the personal intersects with the communal and institutional for trans Indians.
“An unforgettable book, A Life in Trans Activism will leave the reader questioning the ‘safe’ and ‘comfortable’ binaries of male/female that so many of us take for granted.” – Feminism in India
Born in Southern India to a conservative family of modest means, it wasn’t long before Revathi noticed she wasn’t comfortable participating in life as a man. This realisation set her on a long and winding search for survival and for a life on her terms. From the supportive yet strict—and at times exploitative—hijra communities to non-profit spaces rife with other forms of discrimination, Revathi made a name for herself as a fearless advocate for sexual minorities and Dalit rights.
In an intimate, months-long conversation with Nandini Murali, Revathi speaks not only about her own journey but also about the obstacles and challenges faced by another, oft-overlooked part of Indian society: trans men. The result is a free-flowing and brutal account of life on the margins that is also shot through with the bright lights of friendship, determination, and solidarity.