--- title: Transgender Woman Bharathi Kannamma Running For Indian Parliament description: The announcement comes shortly after India's Supreme Court recognized a "third gender" option for trans people canonical: https://time.com/69536/transgender-woman-running-for-indian-parliament/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-21T11:00:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:08:56.036Z og:title: A Transgender Candidate Is Running for Parliament In India For the First Time og:description: The announcement comes shortly after India's Supreme Court recognized a "third gender" option for trans people og:url: https://time.com/69536/transgender-woman-running-for-indian-parliament/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6b21981777997e6/69868b7d169ab0f0da278e3a/485695267.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2398 og:image:height: 1349 og:image:alt: INDIA-ELECTION-GENDER-RIGHTS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Transgender Candidate Is Running for Parliament In India For the First Time twitter:description: The announcement comes shortly after India's Supreme Court recognized a "third gender" option for trans people twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6b21981777997e6/69868b7d169ab0f0da278e3a/485695267.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Transgender Candidate Is Running for Parliament In India For the First Time > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Apr 21, 2014 11:00 AM UTC  Bharathi Kannamma, a transgender hailing from the Madurai District in southern Tamil Nadu state and who is independently contesting the Lok Sabha elections, poses for a photgraph at her home in Madurai. Bharathi Kannamma, a transgender hailing from the Madurai District in southern Tamil Nadu state and who is independently contesting the Lok Sabha elections, poses for a photgraph at her home in Madurai. STR / AFP / Getty Images by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Apr 21, 2014 11:00 AM UTC Just a few days after India’s Supreme Court [recognized a “third gender” option](http://time.com/63801/men-women-and-hijras-india-recognizes-third-gender/), a transgender woman in India is vying for a seat in parliament. Bharathi Kannamma, 53, is considered the first transgender person to be accepted as a candidate in a general election, AFP [reports](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/20/indian-transwoman-to-run-for-office-after-landmark-supreme-court-ruling/). She’s running as an independent candidate in the city of Madurai in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. “Even when people come to see me talk, they have certain set notions,” Kannamma told AFP. “It is only when they hear what I have to say and see me in person that they can get past the fact that I am a transgender.” Kannamma came out in 2004 as transgender and soon began devoting her time to social activism, fighting for the rights of transgender people — known in India as “hijras.” But her current campaign — which she is running on a very tight budget — focuses on other issues too. For example, she hopes to develop the city’s infrastructure and rid its systems of corruption. “I have nothing to fear,” Kannamma said, “and I have no vested interest in being corrupt and the people see that.” ([h/t Jezebel](http://jezebel.com/transgender-woman-running-for-parliament-in-india-1565266581)) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/69536/transgender-woman-running-for-indian-parliament/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/69536/transgender-woman-running-for-indian-parliament/"},"headline":"A Transgender Candidate Is Running for Parliament In India For the First Time","datePublished":"2014-04-21T11:00:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:08:56.036Z","description":"The announcement comes shortly after India's Supreme Court recognized a \"third gender\" option for trans people","url":"https://time.com/69536/transgender-woman-running-for-indian-parliament/","keywords":["Newsfeed","women","India","Government","LGBT","World","Transgender","Parliament"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6b21981777997e6/69868b7d169ab0f0da278e3a/485695267.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6b21981777997e6/69868b7d169ab0f0da278e3a/485695267.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"INDIA-ELECTION-GENDER-RIGHTS","caption":"INDIA-ELECTION-GENDER-RIGHTS","creditText":"STR / AFP / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/69536/transgender-woman-running-for-indian-parliament/","name":"A Transgender Candidate Is Running for Parliament In India For the First Time"}}]}] ```