Transgender student faces discriminatory treatment at Chennai airport

Jain, who was to catch her return flight from Chennai to Kolkata, was stopped by CISF personnel at the entrance checkpoint of Terminal 1, despite presenting her PAN card for identity verification.

Aami V Shaju

Sakshi Jain, a final-year law student at the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata, and an openly transgender woman, had a distressing experience while traveling through Chennai International Airport last week. The incident, involving personnel from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), has sparked outrage and drawn attention to the ongoing discrimination against transgender individuals in public spaces, particularly at airports.

Jain, who was preparing to catch her return flight from Chennai to Kolkata, was stopped by CISF personnel at the entrance checkpoint of Terminal 1. Despite presenting her PAN card for identity verification, the officer questioned whether the individual in the photo matched her appearance. Confident in her identity, Sakshi explained that she is a transgender woman and that her legal documents were being updated. To support her claim, she showed an official receipt confirming that the documentation process was underway.

However, the officer’s response was far from understanding. He not only demanded both her “old” and “new” identity cards, but the situation escalated further when a senior officer, Meena, involved airline staff to verify her boarding pass. Despite confirmation from the airline that her ticket and ID matched, the situation caused Sakshi significant emotional distress.

Witnesses to the incident reported that the public questioning and refusal to acknowledge her legal right to self-identify left Sakshi feeling more like a criminal than a traveler, solely because of her transgender identity.

Despite repeated attempts by The New Indian Express (TNIE), neither the airport authority nor the CISF unit at Chennai airport responded to requests for comment.

Human rights experts, who were contacted by TNIE, stated that Sakshi’s experience highlights several violations of her legal and constitutional rights.

“Sakshi’s experience is not just a personal grievance; it is a reflection of the broader struggles faced by transgender individuals in India. While the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, and the NALSA judgment have taken steps toward legal recognition of transgender rights, systemic biases and discriminatory practices in public spaces remain pervasive, as demonstrated by the treatment Sakshi faced at Chennai International Airport,” said one expert.

Courtesy : TNIE

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