In a first, a Mumbai transgender woman gets married openly

The duo met on Facebook five years ago and have been inseparable ever since. Photo courtesy: gaylaxymag.com

Madhuri Sarode, a transgender woman from Mumbai, who tied the knot with her beau Jay Kumar Sharma has set a precedent for the transgender community.

On December 28, Sarode and Sharma took their wedding vows at a local temple. What sets this wedding apart is the fact that Sarode made no effort to hide the ceremony. And that's a first.

Even though the High Court has passed enough laws to safeguard the rights of transgender community, the perspective of the society as a whole just refuses to budge. In December 2016, India's first transgender college principal had to resign from her post due to non-cooperation from the staff.

Also read: Manabi Bandyopadhyay, India's first transgender college principal resigns

However, the reservations against the community didn't stop Sarode from making the most important decision of her life and being vocal about it too. Yes, she is not the first transgender woman to get married in India--but she is the first one to do so without keeping it under wraps.

We wish the couple our best and hope others follow their example. Photo courtesy: gaylaxymag.com

"NALSA judgment of the Supreme Court does not talk about marriages for transgender people, so I was looking forward to the Transgender Perosns (Protection of Rights) Bill that the Government brought in Lok Sabha; but that also fails to mention or recognize marriages of transgender people. But we decided to go ahead and have a Hindu wedding ceremony," said Sarode in an interview to Gaylaxy.

"I will move the Supreme Court if I have to, to get our marriage registered legally," she further said.

The duo met on Facebook five years ago and have been inseparable ever since.

Interestingly, the wedding was attended by Sharma's sister and brother-in-law, who live in Dubai. However, his parents were not in attendance.

"My mother is really conservative and even inter-caste marriages are not acceptable to them, so getting their acceptance for our marriage will be difficult. We will settle down first and then tell them about our marriage (sic)", he said.

We wish the couple our best and hope others follow their example.

Also read: National Geographic gives the world its first transgender cover girl