7 Jul 2008, 0315 hrs IST, Dhananjay Mahapatra,TNN Two years ago, a bearded Thomas Beatie and his wife Nancy — viewed by their neighbours as a happy couple deeply in love — explored the idea of becoming parents after a decade-long conjugal life. Thomas, a transgender, got pregnant and has just delivered a ‘beautiful baby girl’. Irrespective of whether the baby will call him ‘papa’ or ‘mama’, the event signals a revolution in social, political and legal thinking in countries where transgenders have significant population. Thomas is aware of this and admits that his pregnancy ‘‘sparks legal, political and social unknowns’’. It sure does, especially in India, which is home to nearly 10 lakh transgenders — known as ‘hijras’, ‘kothis’ and other local epithets — who live asymmetrically within society. They are accepted as part of...
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