Sahodari Foundation is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

organisation providing counselling and support services for underprivileged

transgender women A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and ...

. The organisation was founded by transgender activist and artist Kalki Subramaniam in July 2008 to provide opportunities for education, counseling services, education scholarships and supporting livelihood through creative skills training and development. The organisation is based in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

state in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The organisation uses art, literature, films and theatre to advocate for social, economic, and political justice for

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

people and gender-nonconforming people.

Origin

During her postgraduate studies, Kalki started publishing a monthly magazine in Tamil for transgender women called ''Sahodari''. At that time

prejudice Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...

against the transgender people was high because media projected only stereotyped images of transgender people. She wanted to break it and bring forth the real issues and problems of the transgender community. In her magazine, she wrote on health, wellness, spirituality, employment and education.

Mission

The Foundation's main objective is to promote social, political, and economic equity and campaign for civil and legal rights of

people.

Awards

In 2010, Sahodari Foundation received the Kokilavani Memorial Award for its contribution towards transgender rights and activism. The foundation trained transgender people as community video journalists and encouraged them to speak up their stories on visual media through a project called Project Kalki. Many transgender women brought out their voices through video films and the organisation showcased those films in YouTube, blogs and other websites and also screened the films across the country. For this innovative effort, the organisation received an international award for innovation in activism using technology and internet.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://sahodari.org/ 2008 establishments in Tamil Nadu Foundations based in India Organisations based in Tamil Nadu Organizations established in 2008 LGBT organisations in India Transgender organizations Social welfare charities