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Meet Kanmani, a resilient and inspiring transwoman lawyer who is breaking barriers and fighting for a brighter future. After a long day at her tax law firm in Chennai, she sat down for an interview, looking tired but wearing a smile that warmed the room. Despite the exhaustion, she remained patient, ensuring the conversation was unhurried and wrapped up right on time. However, Kanmani’s generosity didn’t stop there; she went beyond the allotted interview time, eager to share her journey.
What Made Her Choose Law?
So, what led her to choose law? Kanmani’s answer was poignant and deeply personal. She revealed that her inspiration came from facing unemployment and discrimination during her college days. Back then I was not very openly “Trans”, “the category” that we use right now but I was very feminine as a boy (referring to the fact that they were closeted a trans person and were perceived as a boy), and this caused significant challenges for them personally as well as in their pursuit of education.
“I decided not to go for a full-time college, which was a major step back and also ignored a Masters, however I attended a bunch of examinations. My father suggested that I enroll for some professional course, so I tried my hand at getting into MBA colleges. I cleared the Xavier aptitude test for HR, but the admission price was exorbitant, and I didn’t know how to go about CAT. The only other thing I applied for was LLB and I got in.”
Despite these obstacles, Kanmani’s resilience led her to attend law school, where she discovered her passion for Law due to Social Justice and advocacy. But her dreams were not just for herself; they were for the entire transgender persons community.
Kanmani harbors the ambitious hope of seeing a transgender person become a high court judge one day. She understood that this dream required ground-level activism, and she has always been willing to put in the hard work to pave the way for future generations.
“For one transgender person to end up as a High Court judge, there would need to be consistently, every year starting now for the next 30 years, a lot of ground level work. And that’s what keeps me going every day. That’s what I want some date for, you know, for things to reach that level.”
Kanmani’s optimism and determination to create change are palpable. Despite her youth, she recognizes that she is laying the foundation for the next wave of transgender lawyers who would follow in her footsteps. She acknowledges the harsh reality that transgender persons face as law aspirants; struggling to even meet basic criteria due to the lack of consideration for their unique hardships. She credits other activists like Swathi Bidhan Baruah, 1 who was the first trans gender judge of Assam and Ankani Biswa 2, a trans advocate in the WB Legal Services Authority, who have done this groundwork and are creating a base for future transgender judges.
The Harsh Reality
As if working towards an ambition was not hard enough, she sheds light on the plight that the transgender persons who aspire to become lawyers face in order to meet even the basic criterion to enter the field, as they are kept at par with everyone else, with no consideration for the hardships they will have to endure in the process.
Transgender persons face challenges in securing housing, jobs, and education due to social barriers and discrimination. Financial aid and scholarships, though helpful, are not enough to ensure sustainable progress. Kanmani vividly recounts instances of discrimination and hatred she has encountered, but her spirit remains unbroken.
“The Common Law Aptitude test for entry into NLUs in India costs Rs. 4,000 per attempt. While there’s a minimal concession for the SC and ST background; there’s no concession for Transgender persons. Giving the CLAT entry costs Rs. 3,500 for people from the SC and ST background – that’s only a Rs. 500 concession which is negligible and underwhelming for someone coming from a marginalised background,” as she provides a description of the entry process into a law school. It is evident how the lack of attention to detail by the authorities affects an entire social strata.
Having to excel academically or get into a good school, in the very least, may seem like a normal goal to have, but it is not easy due to the social hurdles they have to cross as well. Kanmani mentions the risk of transgender persons being thrown out of their homes if they are open about their gender identity with their friends and families and being married off at a young age if their assigned sex at birth is female.
Due to their circumstances, financial aid and scholarships are sought after, “Private scholarships are useful, but they can only do it for a selective group of people and it is not sustainable in the long run. They are based on the individual / private donors’ interest,” according to her. Even if one acquires financial aid through the tedious procedures, accommodation poses a bigger issue due to which those who have been placed in jobs discontinue, thus contributing to the attrition rate.
“A lot of barriers are there which people don’t think about. First, getting into the workplace or educational institution is a barrier. And then, getting into space and sustaining it, for example, basic things like housing. How are people going to figure it out?” asks Kanmani rightfully. Transgender persons are not allowed to be themselves and are constantly asked to obey and restrict themselves to the social norms, in addition to being declined various opportunities and neglected in all fields of work due to the stigma surrounding them. She recounts some bitter instances “People were telling me that “people like you should not be hired” or “people like you should not exist in the legal profession” and “people like you are only good for sex work”. “I am not Dr. Kanmani or Dr. “My Dead Name” etc; since at some universities they were not ok with the PHD – you need to present your topic in the interview, but they were not okay with me researching on transgender persons,” and goes on to mention that she can recount many more such instances.
Inclusive Legal Policies in Workplaces and Educational Institutions
Kanmani is a passionate advocate for inclusive policies in workplaces and educational institutions, emphasizing the need for uniform guidelines and concessions after having gone through hundreds of instances of discrimination or situations where she has felt threatened. She stressed the importance of creating an environment where transgender individuals could be open about their identities without fear of discrimination or prejudice.
“Many legislations such as the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplaces (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) or PoSH Act, SC / ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, Transgender Persons Act, etc. have come in but the bottom line is that none of these will change the mindset of the people as there is flawed implementation and deep-rooted prejudice.”
Policies are the most critical requirement in an organized sector and Kanmani highlighted this by narrating an experience from the time she helped a student with their application for the CLAT exam. “A transgender person came to me because their school documents did not correspond with their current documents as they had transitioned; with a changed gender and name in the current document. The school document is another level of fighting the system; which is not so easy. They were even looking to apply to all the law schools; however, the CLAT Consortium customer care had no idea how to resolve this issue. Even senior officials in the CLAT Consortium did not know, because there is no uniform policy.”
“We need policies, we need hostel accommodations, we need fees and mark concessions, and yes, horizontal reservations,” she says, when asked about educational institutions.
Kanmani has given us insights into the realities of the public or private sectors which include workplaces and calls this “borrowed knowledge” that she has learnt from her predecessors. “For example – Assume, I have a history of sex work and I’m interviewing for the position of the in-house legal consul at your workplace; however there is a gap in my resume of one or two years. It cannot be presumed to involve sex work, but what I am trying to convey is that certain circumstances, such as the reasons for taking a break and the need to cope with economic challenges, may hinder my ability to openly share these experiences with potential employers. For candidates who identify as transgender persons, queer, or cisgender, expressing such concerns openly can be particularly sensitive and challenging,” she points out enlightening us on the need for inclusive workplace policies, taking into consideration the legal requirement of diverse employment. She calls it a double-edged sword as they are offered jobs at various levels but without consideration for their experience in it.
Inclusivity in the legal diaspora has come a long way, as women even had to fight for washroom facilities at the High Court. Kanmani mentions that transgender persons are unable to sustain litigation, due to the lack of disposable income, without which immediate travelling expenses or miscellaneous expenses cannot be met, thereby depriving them of their opportunities.
Words of Wisdom
Having mentioned the bitter looks and gossip mongering that transgender persons have to endure; she concludes the interview with a few tips for young and aspiring transgender persons. She urges them not to fight all battles and shares her learnings about the importance of landing a job and achieving financial independence. This will be covered in Part 2 of this interview with Kanmani.
Trans activism can be time-consuming and taxing, her advice is to pick which battles to fight and which ones to let go off. But amidst the darkness, there is a silver lining, in the form of social justice and recognition that the transgender community has achieved over the course of 19 years, the pioneer of this change being the Jayalakshmi v. State of Tamil Nadu case, which she says is what activism embodies.
Keep up the work Kanmani and keep inspiring more people. May you and your tribe grow!
Read Part 2 of this interview here
Watch the recording of her interview here https://youtu.be/tSNWSodJ1Xw
At Kelp, we firmly believe that cultivating safe, happy and inclusive work environments serves as the foundation for business transformation and expansion.
Kelp was incorporated in 2013 to provide the best HR solutions to organizations, and to improve workplace culture across the board. Over the last 10 years, we have serviced more than 700 clients in India and a few overseas, across various industries in the areas of PoSH (prevention of sexual harassment at workplace), D, E & I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) and EAP. But the common objective of all these services is to build safer, happier, inclusive and productive workplaces.
For our services related to Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH), Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (D,E &I) or Employee Assistance programs (EAP) do get in touch with us at info@kelphr.com, call +91-95001-29652 and we’d be able to help you with customized offerings suited to your organization
