Lives beyond sex-change procedure...

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 9

Dr Samir turned Samira while businessman Simranjeet Kaur turned Sam following sex reassignment surgeries a few years ago. Both have partners and are leading a happy life. They feel the medical procedure helped them make a fresh beginning.

During an interaction with the media on the sidelines of the first national symposium on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) at the PGI today, Sam said,“I was seven when I realised the difference within and outside. At the age of 18, I got to know about the surgery. My parents were not ready for it due to the social stigma attached to it. I was born in a Sikh family. So, in Punjab, it was a big issue. I went to London to do MSE in business management and I enquired about the surgery. But it took a long time. Then, I got the procedure done in Delhi.”

“I used to be a tomboy and fought my battle alone, financially and physically. It feels as if I have come out of a jail. It’s a new birth for me. Though, after the surgery, I cannot father a child, my partner, who is a divorcee, already has a daughter. So, that is not an issue,” said Sam, who plans to don a turban soon.

Dr Samir, an anthologist and belonging to a middle-class family in Pune, changed his identity to Samira through the procedure. “It was not clear to me till 28 years of age that wanted to do it. I faced harassment and was touched inappropriately by patients and their attendants,” said Dr Samira.

“We want equal human rights. The laws should be lenient. The government should ensure proper educational opportunities and quotas for us,” she added.