Akkai Padmashali is a Bangalore based transgender rights activist, speaker, and singer. Born into society with defined gender roles, expected to act like a boy for her early life, she has been a person who has been adamant on having the right to tell her own life story. She has been a national figure for transgender rights, championing the need for political activism and self-determination. She has worked for Sangama, a famous LGBTQ+ rights organisation, and later founded another NGO by the name Ondede (‘convergence’ in Kannada).
1. First transgender to get the Karnataka Rajyotsava
Akkai has received the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award, the second highest civilian state award in Karnataka. She has been a vocal critic of how recognition of transgender women has been almost non-existent by the media and the State. Gender minorities are not even asked about their concerns most of the time. Today she shares the stage with the other recipients of the award throughout its history, with actors, theatre artists, scientists, sports personalities and others.
2. First transgender person to register their marriage in Karnataka
Akkai Padmashali and her partner Vasu were the first transgender people in Karnataka to register their marriage. Akkai Padmashali said in an interview with PTI that she was resistant to marriage for a long time. She had already been in a live-in relationship with her partner, but marriage was different. She had been facing some resistance about the live-in situation from people around her, so she ultimately decided that she would give legal marriage a try. “I wanted to face the challenges the institution of marriage can bring up,” she said in the interview. She had certain conditions which she was really clear about with her family, one of them being that she would be the first to come out publicly if she was to become a victim of domestic violence.
3. Invited to Obama’s town hall
She has been getting international recognition for her efforts to talk about her struggles as a transgender person. Invited to Obama’s annual town hall, where influential personalities from all over the world were present. She was invited to the White House in 2015 too but was not able to meet the President at that time. She recalls her experience of not having any transgender representation in influential positions, and is happy with with how far she has come.
4. A critic of the Transgender (Protection of Rights) Act
A vocal critic of the Transgender (Protection of Rights) Bill/Act, she says that the bill is an insult to the community and doesn’t actually safeguard any of the rights demanded by the community at large. She has directly implored the government to revoke the bill, though it went ahead in the Lok Sabha anyway. She took part in many protests and agitations against gender violence. She has also been highlighting the need for political activism and representation in the government for trans people.
5. Supported the Pridebook initiative
Pridebook is an initiative started by three people, Anoop Murali, Bindu Chandan and Chandan Das. It is an initiative to highlight the problems faced by the transgender community. Akkai Padmashali is a big supporter of the initiative as it is in line with her mission to get more stories like hers out to the world.
6. First transgender person to adopt a child
In another first, she was also the first transgender person to adopt a child with her partner. She wanted to adopt a baby for a long time, in fact, even before she was sure of marriage. She has faced a lot of discrimination for her desire to have a child. Transgender people are regularly called child kidnappers, but she was persistent in her desire to accomplish her wish. There is a lot of stigma attached to transgender women adopting a child with people accusing that they won’t be able to take care of the child.
7. Started being directly involved in party politics
Akkai Padmashali joined the Karnataka Congress, in her mission to get political representation. She became the first transgender person to join the party. She says that this decision had been taken after much deliberation and talking with a lot of community members. Many of these members still remember some of the schemes under the Indira Gandhi government, like making train travel free for transgender people and providing them with food and shelter for their well-being.
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