Kolkata Teacher Was Asked If “Her Breasts Are Real” In School Interviews

A 30-year-old transgender teacher Suchitra Dey recalls her tragic moment at a school interview for a teaching post. She was the holder of double Master of Arts (MA in Geography and English) and BEd degrees and thought it would be enough to get her a decent job.

Suchitra Dey changed her name from Hiranmay Dey after the SRS in 2017 is a transgender teacher in Kolkata’s Thakurpukur area. Dey recounted the even to The Indian Express; “My educational qualification or 10 years of experience didn’t matter to them. When they looked at me, all they could see was a man who had transformed into a woman. Nothing else mattered because if one belongs to the third gender in this country, ridicule is a way of life.” Dey further recalled that one of the interviewers at a well-known school in the city asked her to wear a male outfit since all her mark sheets and certificates claim the Suchitra is a man.

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“One of the interviewers at a well-known Kolkata school asked me to wear male outfits because all my mark sheets and certificates say that I am a man. In each of these interviews, I faced the worst kind of humiliation. The male principal of one of these schools asked me whether I can bear a child. He also asked me if my breasts are real. Would these questions be asked if I wasn’t a transgender woman?” Suchitra said.

 

Frustrated with the way she was humiliated every time she got an interview call, on June 11 Dey wrote to the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC). “I couldn’t handle the humiliation anymore. The things I have been asked by authorities at “reputed” schools of Kolkata shows the kind of mindset people still hold about our community. If someone like me, who are educated and experienced, has to face this then imagine the plight of those who don’t have the opportunity to go to school, or the ones who have been ostracised,” says Suchitra.

In 2014, the Supreme Court officially recognized transgenders creating a “third gender” category for them. The apex court had announced that those belonging to this category will be permitted admission in all educational institutions and also they can seek jobs.