Perception of Social Support among Transgender persons: A Descriptive study from a Metropolitan City of southern part of India

Introduction: Transgender persons are those who exhibit gender variant behavior, appearance and roles in the society. They are the most visible and exploited sexual minorities in India. The current study is an effort to explore their perception of social support from their family members, friends and significant others. Materials and methods: The study was conducted in a Metropolitan city of southern part of India. 60 Male-to-female transgender persons were selected for the study by using consecutive sampling method. The respondents were contacted through the local NGOs working for this community. Results: Transgender persons are mostly separated from their families and migrated to urban areas and half of them are migrated from other states. They stay in urban slum areas and hammams along with other transgender community members. They perceive no support from their parents, friends and significant others. Sex work and begging are the sources of their livelihood. They spend all their earnings mostly on substances and other day-to-day commodities and have no practice of saving for their future. Those who are educated in high school and above and those who are staying in their family of origin have expressed better perception of social support compared to their counterparts. Conclusion: Transgender persons are stigmatized and minimally understood by the wider part of the society. Hence, there is an urgent need to bring about awareness among the society and mainstream this population. In this regard, the social workers have a major role to play in terms of bringing change in their life.