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For those in lockdown – with or without coronavirus

By Santa Khurai

Santa Khurai proposes continued online education for trans students who may be unable to attend school or college even when the lockdown is lifted

This illustration is a combination of a photograph of Atey, the trans boy who is the main focus of the article, and an extract from the article. The photograph shows Atey standing on a balcony or a terrace of a building not too high, with his back leaning on to a concrete railing and both arms spread out on the railing. He is dressed in a teenager’s smart casual clothes and dark glasses. He has a slight smile as he looks at the camera. The background, in some distance, shows tall trees and the hustle and bustle of pavement shops, people and traffic. The accompanying text says: “This is not the first time that Atey has stopped going to school. The same problem occurred when he was in primary school. But when some of us who are engaged in trans activism sensitized the school authorities to the realities of trans persons, they made amends and allowed Atey to wear the boys’ uniform. Unfortunately, for his higher classes, Atey had to change schools and the new school has not been willing to revisit its rules. My film highlights the contradiction between our rigidly gendered educational institutions and the space for gender plurality in Meitei traditions.” Photo credit: Borish Yumnam

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Varta Trust, Kolkata, West Bengal