Ippadiku Rose (Yours, Rose) is by any yardstick, an unusual TV programme. The Tamil talk show deals with sexuality and sexual taboos. And its host, the lovely Rose — formerly Ramesh Venkatesan,  graduate of Lousiana Technical University — underwent a sex-change operation and is now a transgender icon. It’s no coincidence that the show’s a hit in Tamil Nadu. The state has perhaps the world’s most creative schemes for transgender welfare.  

It’s not easy defining who a ‘transgender’ is, but the term broadly includes those whose self-identified gender and physical gender don’t match. The pedant may quibble over precise definitions, but society doesn’t — India’s one million transgenders (colloquially called eunuchs, or more uncharitably  hijras) are targets of focussed discrimination. Officialdom is slowly waking up to this injustice. In 2005, the Centre introduced the category ‘E’ in passport forms for eunuchs, and in some states they’ve entered politics. But they still face social ostracisation and economic boycotts, and attempts for even a national census have faltered. The Supreme Court last month refused the plea, by a eunuch, to set up an All-India Commission for Transgenders, similar to those for scheduled castes and tribes.  

In the midst of all this, Tamil Nadu stands out in how it treats transgenders. The state has set up a Transgender Welfare Board with a budget of 50 lakh rupees per year. That’s around 100 rupees per eunuch — meagre but without parallel in the rest of India. More than money, it’s the schemes themselves that are eye-catching: special ration cards for eunuchs and “admission to transgenders in government colleges,” to quote DMK MP Kanimozhi. But it’s Tamil Nadu’s decision to pay for sex-change surgery that is truly path breaking.  

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