A Tamil writer-activist's alternative journey

Alternative sexuality is no longer a forbidden turf for the working class in smaller towns, though they have to wage fiercer battles than their metro counterparts, says A. Revathi, a popular face of southern India's sexual minority groups.

'The struggle was more difficult for me as I belonged to the working class,' Revathi told IANS in an interview.

'We had to run away from our homes to find members of our own community and work for a dignified living because we were not accepted by our families unlike many of our counterparts in the metros who are affluent and their education status gives them immunity against social taboos.'

A portly matron with dusky skin, the Tamil writer, actress and Dalit activist was here to release her autobiography 'The Truth About Me: A Hijra Life Story'.

With a broad smile, twinkling eyes, mass of brown shoulder-length curls and a large 'bindi' glowing on her wide brow, Revathi was born as Doraisamy in a family of five - the youngest of three brothers - in Karnataka.

Doraisamy, who loved to wear her sister's long skirts, sweep the courtyard and draw the 'kolam' (the prayer motif) every morning, was his parents' pet.

'But the boys at school, as well as the men who saw me outside the house, would call out, 'Hey, Number 9', 'female thing' and 'female boy'. Some even enquired, 'why do you wear a girl's clothes'. I understood that I was indeed that way and wanted to remain so,' Revathi said.

Full report here Sify