Social Acceptance and Section 377: A Case Study of Transgender People in Jammu City

The Supreme Court of India recently decriminalized section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to outlaw the unfair violence and discrimination against transgender people. The paper argues that despite the legal acceptance of Section 377, the discrimination and social exclusion of transgender people continue in the Indian public sphere. The method of Interpretative Phenomenological Approach has been used to analyze the interviews of five transgender people from Jammu city. The findings suggest patterns and relationships within the data which are useful for understanding various ways in which transgender people negotiate and contemplate their lives outside the known social network they resort to. By analyzing the interpretations of selected transgender people, the study reveals that they bear the brunt of social and economic exclusion due to their gender identity on day-to-day basis.