The Hidden Identity: Exploring Experiences of one of the youngest Transgender Woman in India

The transgender community in India today is subject to discrimination, antagonism and rejection, and kept at bay from the normative paradigm set by society. Transgender individuals are excluded from normal social and cultural life, and are not granted basic human rights because of their gender dysphoria. This paper is the case analysis of a young woman dealing with stressful life situations and consequent coping mechanisms employed, supported by suggested interventions. I embarked on this project with the intention to understand the dilemmas and the coping mechanisms adopted by members of the transgender community, after putting away my lens that proclaimed a gender binary. A sixteen-year-old student, renowned for being one of the first few Indians outspoken about her transgender identity, is the subject of this study. Her story has already struck a chord with people across the country. The case study method employed an idiographic approach under which Free Association, Semi-Structured Interview and the Bem’s Sex Role Inventory were administered. Accordingly, the thematic analysis was conducted to focus on recurrent ideas like childhood memories, hardships faced, societal influences, self-perception, physical and psychological concerns, wishes, desires and future goals. The learned result was that the subject faced incredibly stressful experiences and employed certain coping mechanisms that are gender individuals do not.