Transgender Pursuing PhD At University Of Mysore For The Very First Time

Deepa Buddhe HG has demonstrated that the people belonging from the sexual minorities are not inferior. Deepa, 32 years old is Karnataka's first transgender PhD student at the University of Mysore and is completing her first year of research.

For the past year, she has been conducting research on her own community under the direction of Dr B R Ambedkar Research and Extension Centre professor J Somashekar on the theme 'Mysuru-Chamarajanagar Districts Transgender Communities: A Critical Study on the Lives and Struggle.'

She was born as a'male' kid. Her father named Gurusiddaiah, a dailwage labourer, and her mother named Mahadevamma. She had four sisters and while she was in Class 7, her gender identity was recognised.

Deepa, who completed her primary education in her native village and continued her pre-university education at Government PU College in Santhamarahalli while working part-time at Samatha Society, a transgender welfare organisation. She rose through the ranks of the society, becoming project manager and then president in 2018. She also rose to the position of treasurer for the Karnataka State Sexual Minority Forum.

Her journey was not easy as it was full of sacrifices as she had to face the toughest time when she had to somehow choose to stay away from her closed ones. She explained that her parents that she used to adore her and take excellent care of her. However, after learning that she was transsexual, they began to reject her. When she was at PU, she decided to leave her family and join her community. She has not seen her parents or visited her house in over 12 years because the doors were closed to her.

Meanwhile, in 2018, she enrolled in the University of Mysore's MA in Ambedkar Studies programme, where she received an 82 percent in the final exams. She campaigned for the transgender section in the admissions application and was successful.