Those looking for gay sex on the streets of Bhubaneswar should be careful, as about 30 of the city’s transgenders are afflicted with the AIDS virus, according to NGOs working on the welfare of the transgenders (Kinnars). The gradual rise in the number of the transgender AIDS patients is a matter of grave concern, they said.
A senior official of an NGO said his organisation is working on the lifestyle of about 300 transgenders of the Khandagiri, Balianta and Patrapada areas. “Though we have been making them aware about the dangers of their sex life, we have failed in our efforts as nearly 16-17 of them have been found to be HIV Positive recently. These transgender patients have adopted homosexuality as their prime source of living,” he said.
Sources in another NGO said till date, seven transgenders have died of AIDS in the recent past due to their failure to adopt safe sex practices. Of the city’s transgenders, about 12 from the Vani Vihar, Salia Sahi, Rasulgarh and Kalpana areas have also been found with AIDS virus.
Since there are no specific facilities available for the transgenders at the Government and private hospitals, there is every possibility of an alarming rise in the number of AIDS patients through these transgender patients in the state capital, the sources added.
Chairperson of Nikhila Odisha Trutiya lingi Sangha Mira Parida reportedly said, “There are about 500 transgenders living in Bhubaneswar of whom some are HIV Positive. If the State Government makes an effort to give them alternative livelihoods, they will refrain from homosexual activities and lead a normal life.”
The Government has neither included transgenders under the Madhubabu Pension Yojana and nor provided them houses under the Mo Kudia scheme. Besides, not a single scheme of the OSACS (Odisha State AIDS Control Society) is properly implemented for them, she rued.
A senior official of the OSACS said he has no specific information about the number of transgenders in the State. Though he said that the OSACS has the information that some transgenders being afflicted with AIDS, he refused to give the exact number of the patients.