Revathi: a Life in Trans Activism

‘An unforgettable book, A Life in Trans Activism will leave the reader questioning the ‘safe’ and ‘comfortable’ binaries of male/female that so many of us take for granted.’ — Feminism in India

One of the most pathbreaking and respected contemporary Indian activists illuminates how the personal intersects with the communal and institutional for trans Indians

After moving from her family home in south India to a house of hijras in Delhi, Revathi returned to Bangalore to work for an NGO helping trans people like her. There, she progressed from office assistant to director, before eventually deciding to quit and continue her work as an independent activist—including collaborating with a theatre group performing a play based on her life. Throughout, she has been keen to interrogate discrimination within her own community, and opens up her story to include Indian trans men discussing their lived experience in their own words.

Against mainstream publishing’s preference for trauma-focused memoir, this book sets individual autobiography within the much larger context of the potential and pitfalls of institutional activism, the role of communal art forms, and marginalisation within the queer and trans community. Particularly relevant for an international audience is the specificity of the Indian context – caste, hijra culture, marginalisation of trans men - and how this intersects with the more western-centric discourse on trans people and trans rights.

Born in the district of Namakkal in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, A. Revathi is an author, actor, and activist for sexual minorities. Her previous works include Unarvum Uruvamum (Our Lives, Our Words) and The Truth About Me: a Hijra Life Story, and she has featured in the films Thenavattu and Antharam.

Nandini Murali is a gender and diversity researcher and practitioner, columnist, life coach, and the author of four books, the latest based on the death of her husband, Left Behind: Surviving Suicide Loss. She compiled, translated, and edited the world’s first signature edition of the Bhagavad Gita.