Transgenders take blood donation route to end stigma

Renuka Devi (35), one of the donors, said this was the second time she was donating blood. She had organised the camp with the assistance from local youth in Tondiarpet, and the event was planned in such a way to celebrate former CM K Kamarajar’s birth anniversary. “As we fight the stigma, we need to give something to the society. 

While we were brainstorming, the idea of blood donation came up. As many of us had donated blood in the past, we did not have any reservations. There’s nothing like the feeling of saving someone’s life you don’t even know. We have participated in blood donation camps organised by non-transgender based movements during the previous years. This stoked the idea of hosting the event instead of being mere participants. Here we are donating blood”, said Renuka Devi, who runs ‘Tamil Tirunangaigal Ani’ in North Chennai. 

“Our primary aim is to change the perception of the third gender in North Chennai where a lot of them are living with their biological families, or under extended transgender families. We thought it would be a fitting tribute to Kamarajar too ,” she added. 

While a total of 76 units of blood were donated in the camp, as many as 30 donors were from Transgender community and the same lot also volunteered for organ donation.  Staff and doctors from Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital collected the blood. 

“The youth, who turned up for the event in North Chennai, went out with their perception completely changed as we were distributing stationery including notebooks for the impoverished children from the neighbourhood. Some even wondered aloud that they never thought transgenders were this friendly in the neighbourhood”, said another participant Dhanapackiyam.