Transgender lady unable to find home in city after brokers, flatmates reject her

Shakti, who works as a customer service executive with an Andheri firm, has been discriminated against by brokers and flatmates alike. Pic/Satej Shinde

The Supreme Court opened the doors of constitutional recognition for the transgender community in 2014, but four years since, they continue to face discrimination from closed minds.

The prejudice against city-based customer service executive Shakti Rakesh Waghela, 22, proves just the same. For the past 15 days, Waghela has been looking for a rental flat, but every agreement she's finalised so far has gone sideways once the broker or potential flatmate see her Aadhaar card, which mentions her as the third gender.

Shakti currently resides in Borivli with her mother and younger brother. She began transitioning after she turned 18. For some time now, she has been wanting to move into a rental home close to her workplace in Andheri. "I have been looking for accommodation since March 12," Shakti told mid-day, "I have seen at least four to six places and had even given the token amount to a broker after finalising a flat. But after looking at my documents, which show me as a transgender, they returned the amount and told me they did not have a flat for me."

Shakti's Aadhaar card, which mentions she is transgender

Gone after token
The flat was in Andheri East's Greenfield housing society, for which she paid Rs 3,000 as the token amount to save a spot till April 1, after which she would move in. "The broker took the money and gave me all the required information about the flat and even put me in touch with the flatmates via WhatsApp," said Shakti, who was shown the flat between March 15-20 by a broker named Prabhjot Singh Anand.

"After he asked for my documents on WhatsApp and saw my Aadhaar card, he said the flat was gone and he had no more houses to show anymore," she added.

Second time around
The same thing happened with another broker named Vivek Patel, who had promised to show Shakti a few flats in Andheri. But once he met her and got to know about her gender, suddenly he had 'no flats available.' When mid-day reached out to Patel, he agreed that Shakti was facing these problems mainly due to her gender.

"I wanted to show her a flat. Its owner initially did not have a problem, but the flatmates currently living in that house said they would not be able to adjust or be comfortable around her. Later, the owner said she was getting a relative for the vacant spot. I sincerely tried to find a house for her, but no avenues were open. I did not know if I should put her in a male PG or a female PG accommodation."

Flatmates close doors
The issue has not been limited to the brokers alone. If they managed to get her a good deal without any hiccups, flatmates became a roadblock. "I met a female flatmate who was residing in an SRA building in JB Nagar and confirmed everything with her," said Shakti, "But later, she told me her roommates were from an extremely conservative family and weren't as accommodating as her. Basically, they were not comfortable living with a transgender under the same roof."

Shakti faced something similar when she went to see a flat in Poonam Nagar. "I met this girl named Sohini who was already living there. She said that there was no problem and then asked for my documents. I even transferred R1,000 to her as a token amount. Later, she messaged me and said the brokers are refusing to let her move in because transgender people are not allowed in the society. She then sent the money back."

She's not surprised
Upon being asked about her reaction to the situation, Shakti said, "I am not surprised - I have been seeing this all my life. People are sceptical about transgenders and think we cannot work and live in normal places. They think we are into prostitution and begging. I am educated and have a family and I don't see any difference between me and any other person."

"That is why I say that I have seen this all my life and have accepted that our lives are more difficult than those of others. I am still hoping to find like-minded people who won't mind a transgender person living with them," she added.

Also read: Does Pune's Phoenix mall have a no transgenders allowed policy

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