Kavya enters the café in Bandra West, a hip district in Mumbai. All eyes are focused on her. She is tall, her movements are elegant, confident and carefully planned. When she speaks, she speaks loudly because she wants to be heard. She dresses in colourful, body-conscious clothes and openly celebrates her femininity – but Kavya does not want to be reduced to her looks. In India, trans women often work as prostitutes or beggars. Kavya does not want to sell her body. If others do, she does not condemn it as long as they choose to do so. She wants to prove that a trans woman can finance her life without her body. In her job, she does not express herself through her appearance. She works as a voice coach and uses her own voice at queer events for others.
Kavya enters the café in Bandra West, a hip district in Mumbai. All eyes are focused on her. She is tall, her movements are elegant, confident and carefully planned. When she speaks, she speaks loudly because she wants to be heard. She dresses in colourful, body-conscious clothes and openly celebrates her femininity – but Kavya does not want to be reduced to her looks. In India, trans women often work as prostitutes or beggars. Kavya does not want to sell her body. If others do, she does not condemn it as long as they choose to do so. She wants to prove that a trans woman can finance her life without her body. In her job, she does not express herself through her appearance. She works as a voice coach and uses her own voice at queer events for others.