By Vivek Joseph

Hyderabad, Dec 22, 2024: A Church NGO in Hyderabad has organized a day of singing, dancing and sharing as part of its Christmas celebration for the Transgender Community in the southern Indian city.

More than 200 transgender persons, their allies and activists from the city gathered at the campus of the Montfort Social Institute for the “Montfort Rainbows Christmas Celebrations.”

Brother Varghese Theckanath, director of the institute, told the gathering that Christmas is “a festival for the most vulnerable, for those cut off by society.”

The birth of Christ, he pointed out, was first announced not to the great personalities of the day, but to shepherds who lived on the margins.

“It is our honor to welcome our Transgender brothers and sisters, who have for so long been pushed to the margins, to this special celebration meant for them. Through this we remember that Christmas and the love and hope it brings is for everyone,” said the Brother, who has been working among those on the periphery.

The Montfort Rainbows Christmas Celebration is an outcome of over two years of continuous engagement that MSI has had with the Transgender community in Telangana. Montfort Rainbows has worked with the community in their struggle for identity, rights and self-empowerment.

It has ensured that the Transgender community is included in the priority list for Covid-19 vaccinations in Telangana, facilitated sensitization meetings between the community and government and judiciary officials and distributed rations to community members during the lockdowns.

The Montfort institute has begun a Livelihoods Program which provides grants to Transgender persons who have lost their livelihoods to start their own entrepreneurship initiatives. It has now opened a ‘Transwomen and Hijra Skills Development Centre’ in collaboration with the state government’s Women Development and Child Welfare Department.

The cohort of the residential-center, who were also guests for the Christmas celebration, have been receiving training in various trade and soft skills to develop them into entrepreneurs.

Both community members and activists from the city shared their Christmas messages at the celebration. They explained what Christmas means to them.

“When I think of MSI and when I think of Christmas I think of love,” said Jeevan Kumar, founder of the Human Rights Forum.

Guests also included Rachana Mudraboyina, a Trans Rights activist, Venkat Reddy, women’s rights activist Sajaya Kakarla, social worker Mukunda Mala, queer rights activist Tashi Choedup and women’s and labor rights activist Sandhya.

The key point of the celebrations was a message from Subhashini, a motivational speaker who lost her right arm in an accident more than 15 years ago,

The Protestant preacher spoke of her life journey and her experience with hope as someone who has been marginalized because of her disability.