From ‘she man’ to ‘rainbow station’, how the Noida Metro Rail Corporation’s attempt at empowering the Trans community became the center of a debate around tokenism, writes Shaurya Thapa
Ritu Maheshwari, director of the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) declared in a press release on 25th June that the Sector 50 metro station of the NMRC, which is to be dedicated to the transgender community will now be called Rainbow station. The NMRC came under fire when they first revealed the station dedicated to promoting employment to members of the transgender community would be called She Man.
Although well meaning, it is highly unlikely that Maheshwari and her team consulted any representatives from the trans community before taking such a drastic step, as they didn’t realise the derogatory notions that the word ‘she man’ would present. She Man, is just another example of a whole list of transphobic slurs like lady boy, shemale, that imply a mixture of male and female—this watertight categorisation is in stark contrast to how transgender individuals would want to define their identity.
After generating heavy criticism, Noida Metro posted a press release on its official website inviting suggestions from individuals and NGOs on what the new name should be. While the details on the individuals and the NGO’s who participated in this activity are still a bit uncertain, it’s this consensus that resulted in rechristening the Sector-50 Metro Station as Rainbow Station. Now, while some in the trans community are seeing this as a positive step, some are also concerned about the possibility that the word rainbow might end up including cis-gender people and they might hijack the dominant narrative yet again.
“I feel like it’s a good initiative but regardless it feels like a rainbow-y attempt to express solidarity,” says Aru, a non-binary artist. “They could have possibly done this anytime but they deliberately chose the pride month. To a non-binary or a trans person, it would only seem performative considering the previous name was “she-man”. It’s a very tokenistic approach and it’s not a positive baby step. Countless times the rainbow has been used by institutions, when in reality, it barely represents the trans/non-binary/gender non-conforming tribes. I feel like the whole rainbow notion had its time once, but now pride is beyond it.”
The tokenism in the name aside, NMRC has promised to recruit transgender persons as a part of the station’s stuff as soon as the station resumes operations.
Taksh, who identifies as transgender feels that before metro stations are named for trans people, it would be much nicer to have a legislation that protected them first. ‘I think it’s tokenism because trans men and trans women are still not employed, are still harassed out of housing, and are still bullied out of spaces for education. And as if all that isn’t bad enough, the Trans Act is very much still a real thing that imposes draconian restrictions upon trans people and makes the process of getting your documentation to reflect your gender more difficult than it already is.” Taksh adds, “there is still no change in the process of legally getting your documentation changed to reflect your gender. There are still no workplace safety regulations in place. Trans women still face sexual violence and the process of reporting is exhausting and sometimes, more dangerous.”
An anonymous Delhi-based student who identifies as a trans man further feels that the intention behind this metro station and its naming might be right (although a bit tokenistic again) but the execution isn’t right. “My take is that they headed out to do something good, but didn’t really have an understanding of what they’re trying to do, hence the debacle decision.”
Vanshika Chaudhary, a student from Jesus and Mary College who identifies as non-binary feels that it’s a tokenistic move if one speaks about queer and pride ideas without ever addressing the Trans Act. “I don’t know what the bathroom situation at this station would be either. But I do think, if it genuinely ends up giving proper employment for trans individuals, it could eventually become a safer environment for the community given the absence of any safe space created by the state. All of that again depends on the trans community’s perception of it.”
Trans activist, model, and actor Rudrani Chhetri too feels that it’s a good change. “I am happy about it and was equally mad before…I wish to help them in the recruiting process if they allow to take someone onboard the trans community.”
Even if the decision can be appreciated, what needs to be pointed out is the fact, that queer politics and decision making is still dominated by non-queer voices. The aforementioned Trans Act or the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act has also been criticised and called ‘draconian’ and ‘discriminatory’ for this very fact. When the Act was a Bill, it was shown to be furthering transgender rights but it was not opened for consultation at all with the concerned community. Noida Metro also changed its station’s name in the end only after an outrage.
Will Rainbow Station will actually live up to its claims of representing transgender persons or not, that only time can tell.
