“Staring in the mirror wasn’t always easy for me.”

“Being attracted to men was, for me, just another facet of human nature.”

“Why is the public imagination of trans one that restricts itself to the conventional ‘femme’, whatever feminine is to the audience’s most violent gaze? Where are the trans masculinities, the male-passing genderqueer subject, in your idea of resilience?”

“I am really sick of this transphobic mentality; all I want is to be perceived as a regular woman. How I look definitely comes in the way of that. Every curious stare from the strangers when I go out makes me realize that I am in a wrong body.”

“You have to live it to realize that you do not want any part of it.”

“As a child, I never felt comfortable wearing boy clothes for school. Honestly, I would have rather been naked than wear men’s clothes.”

“I am just not ready to have that conversation with them yet because it will disrupt our lives, and honestly, I don’t think I ever will be.”

“I realized I am in icu but hospital supported professor not me”

“I ALWAYS ENVIED PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN THOSE PARTS OF THE WORLD WHERE BEING THEMSELVES WAS COMPLETELY NORMAL, UNTIL I LEFT MY OWN LAND IN SEARCH OF ACCEPTANCE.”

“Our lives are our own to live. The contentment we get from living life the way we want to is more important than how others view our way of living.”

“To all my trans brothers, I would only urge you to be your true self and never give up on the hope of living your life to the fullest. You don’t need anyone else’s validation.”

“Trans youth must believe that they have a better future — and that we will continue to strive for a fairer, more just society for the future generations.”

“Reach out, trust your talent, be open to learning, show your confidence – and you too will find places where you truly belong. Remember, talent has no gender!”

“I await the day when all people in our society see us as equals.”

“Life is different when you are free to live your truth. For the first time in a long time, I am secure, self confident and hopeful for my future.”

“I was proudly out to my friends and endorsed LGBTQ+ rights outside the four walls of my home. However, inside those four walls, I was completely the opposite. I would never talk about sexuality, about me or my identity. I was still in the closet for my father and mother.”

“they asked me questions and tried to force their ideas upon me many times and I bet they would never like to be treated that way.”

“I don’t want to tell them because if i want them to accept me like i am, i should also accept them for who they are (people who can never understand).”

“As long as I remember,i was 5 years old when i was bullied for the first time. Hindi derogatory words like Hijra,Chakka etc. Were thrown to me and these WORDs really had an IMPact on my childhood.”

“I told him [my professor] that Section 377 [India’s anti-LGBT law] is unconstituional in today’s world. He was so disgusted that he made me fail for which I had to appear on that exam later. I didn’t ask for any probe, but I realised that the problem lies somewhere else. I contacted the president of World Psychiatric Association and told him the situation.”

“I have always been brazen online, sharing photos I take of Indian male sexuality across social media. But I never took the hate that came with it seriously till this one time I was physically assaulted by two men outside a very crowded subway and a mob gathered to watch while they threw homophobic slurs at me.”

“Living in India, where same sex marriage is considered to be filthy I had a really tough time growing up. Confused as I was, I dint know with whom to share this fact of mine. I was scared, but even though I was closeted people had to find out who truly I was.”

“I come from a rural economically marginalized background which itself gave me a set of struggles to fight since childhood. Since my adolescent days I was trying to understand myself and was a confused soul.”

“My greatest desire is to move to some place where my sexuality is legal and accepted, a place where I can just call him my boyfriend or husband, not my partner, a place where they would not stare if we hold hands in the street, a place where everything would be just fine.”

“Just want someone to come and take me out of this situation someday. I dont need all the luxury or money or the job that I have, I need love and freedom to be myself and want to surround myself with happy people.”

“I’m gay and proud of it. There’s nothing that I would change about myself. But my country and my parents would never agree to that. Where homosexuality is a crime. In India and on the other hand if do tell my parents about me, especially my dad, he’ll kill me. No doubts.”

“I BORN UNLUCKY….. I had good childhood until I was sexual assaulted by my uncle in the age where I don’t even no the meaning gay barbie girlie it was my pet name nobody’s thought why I am like this, whether its my mistake or gods.”