Transgender cultural walk—a first for Tennessee

To raise awareness of Madurai’s old culture, the Madurai Nature Cultural Foundation and Transgender Resource Center collaborated to organize the first-ever transgender cultural stroll in Yanamalai on Sunday. Thirty transgender people participated in the event and toured the nearby historic temples and sculptures.

Transgender Resource Center Coordinator Priya Babu told TNIE that setting up a green walk will allow trans people a chance to explore, as they still have trouble interacting with cis-gender people. “During the trek, we saw a number of sites, including the eighth-century Ladan cave temple, ancient murals in Yanamalai, Jain caves, and the hero stone from the fifteenth century at the Akilandeswari Jambukeswari Temple in Uthangudi. Because the walk is beneficial to trans people’s physical and emotional health, we also want to hold it once a month,” she said.

One of the main objectives of the walk, according to M Tamildasan, coordinator of the Madurai Nature Cultural Foundation, was to chronicle the birds, butterflies, local culture, and other species. He said, “The initiative also aims to help trans people explore cultural places and remove the social stigma surrounding them.”