Sushant Divgikar visits Delhi often for his drag performances. He was recently in Delhi for a meeting with the members of National Institute of Social Defence (NISD). NISD is the central advisory body for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Talking about his meeting, Sushant, aka Rani KoHEnur, shares, “We had a discussion about how we can be more inclusive when it comes to the community and how we can make them part of the mainstream social fabric and there are certain campaigns that we discussed. I can’t disclose the details of the campaign, but it is basically for transgender empowerment and inclusion in various occasions and generally, in the society.”
Sushant further added, “Within the transgender community, there are sub-divisions: There are trans men, trans women, gender neutral people, gender fluid people, non-binary people. So, this was the discussion I had with sir and I told him that it is not as simple as it seems because gender is a construct that we have created,” says Sushant, adding, “Fluidity has been ignored, so through music as an art form, we are trying to prove a point. That music has no gender, music has no label. Art is art, and through that message, we are planning a couple of campaigns. It is something that we need and (we want to send out) a message that transgender people also have the right to live in the country as equals.”
Talking about the importance and impact of these kinds of collaborations, Sushant said, “This might or might not result in us working together but the fact that they (NISD) are even thinking about stuff like this is a very big start for change. We have to start the conversation, but we have to chronologically go about it. So even if I was invited to have a conversation with them from Mumbai, then I think I am doing the right thing and so are they. They are trying to understand our problems, so they are also learning about us. If they do something about the community without consulting the members of the community, then we will complain that they did not ask us. That is why I feel it is important that these conversations have started. It’s a change in the right direction,”