In India with Sister Prema at Kinner Day, the day dedicated to the transgender community

On January 7, 2026, Rainbow Home of Seven Sisters (RHoSS), an organization active in North-East India, organized the Annual Kinner Day, a day dedicated to the kinner community, transgender women who often live on the margins and suffer rejection and dehumanization.

A raccontarlo è suor Prema Chowallur, managing trustee e direttrice di RHoSS, che ha voluto creare un’occasione pubblica semplice ma precisa: far incontrare persone, storie e sguardi, e aprire uno spazio in cui questa comunità potesse essere vista e ascoltata per ciò che è, non per lo stigma che le viene incollato addosso.

According to Sister Prema, around 20 Kinner people participated, together with around fifteen people interested in learning more about their reality and around 20 media professionals, present to give visibility to the initiative.

The point, he explains, is that in the local context there are "rooted" forms of transphobia and homophobia, which lead many people to consider kinners as "not normal", even "not human". Added to this is a frequent and unfair mechanism: if a single person from the community ends up involved in a news story, the blame is easily attributed to the entire group. The day was conceived precisely as a cultural and civil response: to remind society that the kinner community does not coincide with the caricatures that describe it, and that many of these women also carry out positive actions that are recognized in the social fabric.

During the event, guests invited by the organizers spoke: the Chief Guest Mrs Nazma Mukerjee, an author who has written on the topics of intersexuality; the Guests of Honor Mrs Indrani Chakraborty, mother of a transgender woman, who shared a journey of family struggle and resistance, and Dr. Deepshika Carpenter, committed to social issues.

The day also included artistic moments with songs, dances and speeches. Sister Prema reports very encouraging reactions: several people defined the program as "unique" and thanked those who made it possible for the energy and courage to propose an initiative of this type in an often hostile context.

Suor Prema racconta di aver parlato direttamente con i media, insistendo su un messaggio molto concreto: capire prima di giudicare, riconoscere l’umanità delle persone, smettere di trattarle come oggetti da usare e poi respingere. Ha richiamato anche diritti essenziali e spesso negati nella pratica: accesso al lavoro, all’istruzione e alla salute per le persone transgender.

Among the moments that left the most impression on her, she cites the media attention and the speed with which the news spread between the press and social media: for her it is a sign of awareness that is spreading, because it reaches people who otherwise would never have listened to a story other than that of the stereotype.

For those who live outside India, this story also helps to understand a specific dynamic of the context: the kinner or hijra community is often described as a group that welcomes transgender people kicked out of their families, sometimes in a sudden and violent way, offering protection and belonging within community relationships guided by a guru.

Sister Prema also recalls the dimension of economic survival: many people live in precarious and stigmatized jobs, some carry out traditional social roles, such as visiting families for blessings related to births or ceremonies. In this framework, a public day can be a small but real step: shifting the gaze, changing words, opening alliances.

Rainbow Home of Seven Sisters, spiega suor Prema, è un organizzazione registrata il 2 giugno 2021 con l’obiettivo di offrire accoglienza a persone transgender e a sopravvissute e sopravvissuti alla tratta, senza discriminazioni di colore, genere, sessualità, casta o religione. Il lavoro quotidiano include accoglienza, bisogni di base e supporto, e quando possibile percorsi di autonomia.

In a context in which the simple existence of a transgender person is often reduced to a label, the Annual Kinner Day becomes a public gesture of recognition: putting the person, the face, the dignity back at the centre.

Due frasi di suor Prema, condivise come messaggio finale, riassumono bene il senso della giornata: “Qualunque sia il genere, il cuore di ogni persona è pieno di compassione, cura, gioia e pace. È questo che rende l’essere umano diverso dalle altre specie."

E ancora: “Indipendentemente da genere e sessualità, ogni essere umano ha il diritto di godere di tutti i diritti umani."