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The Conversation: Being Transgender: Isis King and Abhina Aher

Isis King (L) and Abhina Aher (R)

10/08/2015

Being Transgender: Isis King and Abhina Aher

BBC World Service - The Conversation, Being Transgender: Isis King and Abhina Aher

Born in the wrong body? Making the transition from male to female in the US and India.

"I always knew I was different". Two transgender women discuss what it's like to transition from male to female and offer advice on dating and dealing with discrimination.

Model and fashion designer Isis King was catapulted to fame on US TV series America's Next Top Model. Her physical transition from male to female was caught on camera and got global attention in 2009. Isis says she knew she wanted to be a girl as early as four years old - "I always knew that I was different". Her mother was a strong role model and Isis remembers, "I would put on my mum's heels" when she was out and practise walking in a straight line in them. She reveals that it's been hard to find love since her genital reassignment surgery, because people have seen her on their screens at her most vulnerable, but says now she's just trying to focus on herself.

Abhina Aher is part of India's Hijra, or "third gender" community. Hijras were recognised by the country's supreme court last year, but Abhina says there's still a long way to go until people like her are accepted by families, communities and employers. Abhina, who works as a programme manager for India HIV/Aids Alliance, couldn't "connect" to herself as being a boy growing up and wanted to be a dancer like her mother. Abhina says that genital reassignment is costly in India and she had to opt for castration and hormone treatment carried out by unregulated medics.

(Picture: Isis King (Left) and Abhina Aher (Right). Credits: Isis - D Dipasupil/ Getty Images for Logo TV; Abhina - Prakash Singh/ AFP/ Getty Images)

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