“Do Your Breasts Lactate?”: Trans Teacher Asked at Job Interview
Suchitra has a double master’s, but none of the interviewers were interested in her educational qualification.
“Are your breasts real? Can they produce milk?”
“Will you have children if you have intercourse?”
“What was the problem with being male? Why did you have to change?”
These are just some of the questions that a trans woman – a teacher – had to endure while interviewing for jobs in Kolkata.
Suchitra Dey (previously Hiranmay Dey), has a double Master’s in Geography and English and also holds a bachelor degree in education. However, none of her interviewers asked her any questions related to her fields of specialisation or her professional abilities.
Suchitra also told The Quint, that eventhough some schools thought she was eligible and gave her an interview call after seeing her resume, they immediately disconnected the call or refused interviews after learning that she is a trans woman. She wasn’t even allowed a chance to explain herself.
“Some even asked me why my degree certificates say ‘male’, when I’m not. I tried to explain to them that I only got my (sex-reassignment) surgery done last year. All my documents before that will obviously have “male” as my gender! What am I to do about that?” says Suchitra.
Exasperated with the attitude of most schools, Suchitra has now written to the West Bengal Human Right Commission.
“They have not given me any assurance. They said they’ll look into the matter, but haven’t told me when,” said Suchitra.
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