Bengaluru: Noted transgender activist Akkai Padmashali will officially join the Congress party today, in an event, in the presence of party’s Karnataka chief D K Shivakumar and Congress Legislative Party leader Siddaramaiah.
She told Indian Express that her decision to join the Congress came in as she sees threat to the Indian Constitution from the right-wing forces.
“The Indian National Congress is known for being quite outspoken on issues faced by minorities including the transgender community. My decision to join the party coincides with the observation that there is no political voice from within the party now to represent such issues from a first-hand perspective.” she told the national daily.
Padmashali, the first transgender person to be conferred with the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award — the second-highest civilian honour of the state — in 2015 opined that the right to dissent is now being limited, especially after (journalist-activist) Gauri Lankesh’s assassination in 2017.
Married to her childhood love Vasu, the couple is also the first trans couple in India to legally adopt a child.
