Adding a new dimension to her battle in securing her community’s rights, a well known transgender and activist is making her electoral debut in the April 27 Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu. Activist Kalki Subramaniam, a writer and an actor, would contest from Pollachi, her home town, as an independent. >>>

The Election Commission, which has the mammoth task of organising the upcoming poll, has introduced an 'others' gender option for voter identity cards. >>>

With 6,630 voters in Uttar Pradesh enumerated as “Others,” the State has the highest number of third-gender voters. Andhra Pradesh comes second with 4,421 followed by Karnataka with 3,233. >>>

As many as 3,233 people from the transgender community have signed up to exercise their franchise in the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka. This is an increase of around 10.5 per cent from last year’s number of 2,919. >>>

Kidnapped as a boy and transformed into a transgender, he was compelled to walk the first steps of adulthood as a prostitute. Brutalised and battered for three years, he sought justice and a city court on Friday framed charges against 13 accused. >>>

Transphobic health workers mock their patients and even put their lives at risk through their negligence, report says. >>>

The Aam Aadmi Party will put the legalization of homosexuality at the top of its election manifesto as it seeks to win its first seats in the Indian Parliament and break into national politics. >>>

Homosexuals may not have the numbers to determine future of a political party but their voice has found some space in the political firmament this election season. The CPM was first to promise decriminalisation of gay sex in its manifesto announced earlier this week, saying it would amend Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code so that consensual relationship between adults should not be criminalised. >>>

Holding placards reading ‘Knock out Sec 377’, ‘We are not sex toy, No No Sec 377’, a small group of people from different walks of life staged the first-ever pride in the bustling streets of Imphal yesterday, according to Indian media. >>>

An Indian political party that wants gay sex to stay illegal has found a surprising place to advertise for supporters – Grindr. >>>

A group of transgenders has accused Haripur police of torturing and humiliating them publicly. >>>

Bharathi Kannamma (53), a transgender who was not allowed to contest the Mayoral polls, is contesting from Madurai Parliamentary constituency as an independent candidate without compromising her gender identity, thanks to the EC for introducing ‘Other Category’ in the Elector’s Photo Identity Card. >>>

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Goa Su-Raj Party (GSRP) has taken up the issue of transgenders on its election manifesto, stating that poverty and neglect by the society was forcing them to beg and indulge in prostitution in the coastal state. >>>

The recent report by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to tackle issues faced by transgender people has not gone down well with certain groups of transgender people in the country --- the oft-neglected trans masculine community who call themselves a minority within the sexual minority community. >>>

An expert committee has recommended that ‘transgender’ be declared the third gender, with the individual having the right to choose gender, and has asked the government to prepare a law to prevent discrimination and atrocities against these people. >>>

Transgenders (hijra community) may have voting rights with 2014 Lok Sabha elections creating history by introducing a separate column — other — for their enrollment, but sadly just four out of the more than 2,000 transgenders in the Port City have received voter ID cards with almost two-thirds complaining that they are yet to get their cards though they had applied for it months ago. >>>

Guess who is gearing up to entertain Chennai for three days of non-stop cultural extravaganza? It’s the city’s transgenders, who, for the first time in Indian history, have gathered together to set a record. They are planning to exhibit their cultural talent for 60 hours straight. >>>

Always known for their liberal viewpoints and neo-classical approach Communist Party of India (Marxist) came out in favour of scrapping Section 377 from Indian Penal Code (IPC) which criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual relations. The CPI(M) on Thursday had released its manifesto in New Delhi where it profoundly pitches in for gay rights in India. Till date, it’s the only political party in India which has come out clean on making changes to the law to favour gay rights. >>>

UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador and actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan recently joined UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Dr Luiz Loures and the Indian Secretary of the Department of AIDS Control Dr VK Subburaj on a mission in Mumbai to highlight the impact of gender-based violence and the need to continue scaling up efforts to stop new HIV infections among children. >>>

Homophobia has an annual cost to India of $31 billion or more, according to a draft report presented Wednesday at a forum at the World Bank’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
 >>>