Shree Gauri Sawant – A Mother or A Transgender
Who is Gauri Sawant?
Coming from Mumbai, Shree Gauri Sawant is a transgender social activist and television host. She works for transgender rights and dignity, HIV/AIDS sufferers and upliftment of deserted women and kids.
Early Life and Background
Transgender rights campaigner Gauri Sawant, who was born in Pune, has always exhibited what are thought to be feminine traits. She concealed who she really was. Then, one day, she made the decision to shed her assigned-at-birth identity and change to match it. She consequently chose the name Gauri Sawant. Given that Sawant’s father was a police officer, her household was already patriarchal. She was never intended for this world by her mother. Sawant stated, “She (mother) didn’t want me to come into this world, and even tried to seek an abortion in the seventh month,” in an interview with YourStory. She left her house at the age of 14 or 15 as she didn’t want to be a disappointment for her dad.
First Transgender Election Ambassador
In 2019, the Election Commission of India (EC) appointed Gauri Sawant as one of 12 election ambassadors from Maharashtra. She became the first from the LGBTQIA+ community to hold the position. Speaking to Mumbai Mirror, she said,
“I want to ensure that each of them goes and votes; not just housewives but also women who are sex workers and every transgender in this country.”
Social Works
In 2000, Gauri established the Sakhi Char Chowghi Trust. The NGO supports safe sex and offers transgender individuals counselling. She was the first transgender person to petition the Supreme Court of India for transgender people’s adoption rights in 2014. She filed a petition in the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) case, which resulted in the Supreme Court recognising transgender people as belonging to a third gender. After Gayatri’s mother passed away from AIDS in 2008, Gauri adopted the young daughter.
Always wanted to be a mother
Though named Ganesh at birth, the activist later took up his mother’s name instead, while sharing that she “always wanted to be a mother”.
Gauri said,
“I was christened Ganesh, after the elephant-headed God. And, when the time came to choose my own name, I chose Gauri, another name for Parvati, Ganesh’s mother. I always wanted to be a mother. In my childhood, when I was asked by a nosy relative at a family function what I wanted to be when I grew up, I distinctly remember saying I wanted to be an aai,”
In 2001, Gauri would realise her dream while working with sex workers to create awarness around STDs. Here, she met Gayatri.
According to reports, when the activist heard rumours about Gayarti being sold for sex work after her biological mother’s death, she stepped in.
Gauri said in a video,
“My daughter taught me that you don’t need to have a uterus or give birth to a baby, motherhood is all about caring and loving a child. I was happy when people started recognising me for my motherhood,”
Besides fighting for the rights of trans persons to adopt, she also fought for the community to be recognized as the third gender.
Biopic
According to a reports, Actress Sushmita Sen is all set to essay the role of Shree Gauri Sawant, the first transgender rights activist. Around 300 transgender artistes have been hired for the series, added the report.
On Thursday (October 6), Sushmita took to Instagram to drop her first look at the biopic. In the poster, she can be seen clad in a green saree with a red blouse and a big red bindi.