As the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls continues in West Bengal, the transgender community has found themselves in for an array of problems as they struggle to prove their identity during door-to-door verification as many have not visited home in years.
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The Election Commission does not accept the transgender card provided by the central government as proof of identity. However, that is the only proof of identity which many transgender people within the community have.
“We have all lost our sense of home once in life. This anxiety about SIR and the process to prove our identity is making us feel that anxiety once again. Most of us are living in a constant state of trauma,” Koyel Ghosh, the managing trustee of Sappho for Equality told The Hindu. There are over 250-300 people who are associated with them, and most of them have been unable to fill up the SIR enumeration form.
However, when asked, the officials at the West Bengal Election Commission office, they did not have a clear idea of how the transgender community can address these problems. Officials said that any disputes regarding such issues will be taken up in hearings and resolved there.
