In a first in the country, Kerala has organised a transgenders' sports meet in the country.
Hindustan Times reported that130 athletes took part in the event. Sreekutty, president of the Sexual and Gender Minority, an organisation working for the uplift of third sex informed that the event will become an annual event from now on and it will be classified into senior, junior and other levels.
This time there were as many as six different events, which included 100, 200 and 400-metre sprints, shot-put, long jump and 4x100 metre relay.
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Speaking to the newspaper, sports council vice-president Mercy Kuttan said that Kerala sport council will provide all types of support for the event next year.
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This is not the first time when Kerala did something to create awareness towards the third gender.
In February, womens self-help group, Kudumbashree, which empowered over 42 lakh households through various entrepreneurial initiatives, started rehabilitation of the transgender community in the state by forming an exclusive neighbourhood group for them.
A Neighbourhood Group (NHG), the lowest tier of Kudumbashree, was formed with transgenders as members in Kottayam district, one of the places with large population of third genders in the state.
In 2015, Kerala government had unveiled its Transgender Policy, a first of its kind, envisaging to end the societal stigma towards the sexual minority group and ensure them non-discriminatory treatment.
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The policy covers all the categories of TGs, including male to female TGs and intersex people. It also emphasises the rights of the minority group to self identify themselves as man, woman or TG as stated in the Supreme Court judgement.
Kerala has also launched an exclusive taxi service which is owned and operated by transgenders.
(With PTI inputs)
