Akkai Padmashali Biography 
Jagdish– a boy who chose himself to call as a transgender Akkai Padmashali and her transformation to a human right activist has inspired many, who belong to her category. She had to face a lot of struggles with her gender equality and to get social acceptance. After working four years as a sex worker, she turned a human right activist and co-founded an organization, Ondede, which aims to create awareness about sexuality, sexual diversity and the right to choose one’s sexual orientation. Ondede in her native language Kannada means convergence. She is the first Indian transgender person to get a driving license stating her gender as female.
She wants sexual minorities to feel that they are a part of normal human population and works for their rights in the society. Being a male to female transgender she feels proud of herself. As a human rights activist, she has spoken at many forums, and though she had to discontinue her studies at school, she speaks English comfortably. She got accepted to her family, who once dishonoured her. In 2014 she was invited to talk at International Bar Association held at Tokyo to speak about the legal rights of sexual minorities
She was born as a boy, Jagdeesh in a middle class family of Bangalore. Her father worked in air force and her mother, a homemaker. Since young, Jagdeesh was a confused child who wanted to play with girls and loved to wear her sister’s dress. Her strange behavior made her parents angry, and they even sought the help of doctors and traditional healers. Since the age of 8, she could feel that she was a girl, and not a boy. By the age of 12, she tried to commit suicide twice. Later she gained enough courage to reveal this matter to her brother. Though he accepted it, her parents couldn’t.
Her confused sexual orientation gave her a lot of mental agony, and she felt alone. As a young teenager, she watched similar people in the parks of Bangalore and to join the group, she was pushed to prostitution. Though she counts those four years to be the most miserable days of her life, she came to know about many such people who belong to her group, and share similar metal agonies. Akkai was motivated to join Sangama, a local NGO that works with sexual minorities. When she turned a human rights activist, her parents accepted her too.
Published: N/A
Updated: June 19, 2016
