Transgenders discussed the loss of livelihood due to the disasters and how they lost their livelihood and demanded that disaster management training be imparted through NGOs.
Coimbatore: A programme on "Gender and Climate Change" was held in Coimbatore to highlight the welfare of transgenders.
In Coimbatore, transgender rights activist Kalki Subramaniam and sister Arakattu jointly organised a programme titled "Gender and Climate Change".
Kalki Subramaniam spoke on the occasion. A large number of transgenders have been displaced and their livelihoods have been looted due to heavy rains, floods, infectious diseases and tsunamis.
Following this, Soundarya Gopi, a transgender social worker, spoke on the occasion. The general public in the pandemic suffered severely even for their basic needs. Those who started small businesses had to close it down.Soundarya said she couldn't start it again.
Speaking on the occasion, Selvi Karthika said, "I was very much affected by the floods in Chennai in 2015. I lost all my belongings. Now I started a food shop and ran it. The shop was washed away in the rain. Since then I have been forced to beg and it continues even today."
Similarly, Prema Natarajan, who runs a catering business, said, I could not earn a living during the pandemic and heavy rains. Unable to pay the monthly rent, I shifted my house several times in the last three years.
She demanded that transgenders should be trained in disaster management through NGOs.