Formerly a male; now a female. Bhoomi the actress of Sayapethi Kusuma who passed sexual transition period, speaks out

Formerly a male; now a female. Bhoomi the actress of Sayapethi Kusuma who passed sexual transition period, speaks out

Sayapethi which is being screened these days in a number of cinema halls is a film which has a theme that speaks about a homosexual love story. Bhoomi Harendran who steps into the cinema is someone who previously was a male and subsequently has faced a sexual transition to become a female. It is something special to mention that just as much as in the film, in private life too Bhoomi has achieved sexual transition now as a female. She also has

come forward as a Human Rights activist on behalf of women who have faced sexual transition.

She unfolds her experiences as follows: "I have before this played roles in stage dramas and documentary films. But those were not male characters. In this film I was dressed up as a male called Gihan. Actually this film was made in 2013 and that was the period when my change started happening. I had begun my hormone redress. If one looked at me those days I really looked a male. I appeared a female only in a slight way. I acted in this as someone who was subjected to sexual transition. I faced no obstruction at any time. They were a team that was full of humanity. I have some problems in society for being sexually transitioned. Reactions from individual to individual varies. Even at our home it was to be seen. I, my mother, father and my elder sister are those who are at home. Those in our house didn't like to accept me in this state. I had a big challenge. My mother and father didn't like to accept this change. Though I was not equipped with the complete personality of a male, what they wanted further was to see me as a son ... and not to see me as a daughter. But I wanted an objective for my life. By that time I had undergone surgery and become sexually transitioned. Because of those things my mother and father abandoned me. I know it's not they who abandoned me. The society pushed them to that position.

For a period of 5 years I kept away from the family ... living alone. I am so happy that I got the opportunity of living in the company of my home-people after a lapse of 5 years. They understood me. However much we lived in happiness, small small problems used to crop up because of influences from society. Even the film Sayapethi Kusuma speaks about a burning question about homosexuality, behind the screen.We receive outstanding responses. I am so happy about it. The society is diverse ... laugh, insult, look down upon. That's how society is. I had a dream of becoming an actress. I was able to achieve that dream through the film Sayapethi Kusuma. If I get a good creation, I would give my contribution. If I say that facing a sexual transition is a challenge ... it is correct. The society looks upon a person like that in a very narrow manner. But it's not a fault of that person.

The sexuality of a person is decided upon when inside the mother's womb. How far is it justified to treat that child who is born into this world  ... as a strange social being? Neither the child nor that child's parents are responsible for that aberration. But even from childhood what such a child is bestowed from society are only insults and censure. It is in that state that the child approaches adulthood. That child from childhood itself is left out from his/her brothers and sisters and gets the love and affection of the family in a lesser degree. Even in the school such a child does not have a satisfactory environment to study.

I think that this kind of life is a challenge forever. Those days I was sad over my change. Even after I was subjected to a sexual transition the challenges in my life have not ceased. Even when I seek employment suitable for my qualifications ... what people ask is not about my qualifications. Things like, "How did you face the sexual transition? How was that operation done?" Though  this thing called sexual transition is a big issue among some groups in society, there is also a big acceptance from some other groups. There are people who really understand me. Actually, I love a certain person. I have an idea of marrying. But we are still not at a level whether it is a stabilized love affair as such. Where ideas are concerned, I believe the two of us are quite compatible.

Pix By -Indika Mallawarachchi