“It was a few months ago that I started transitioning, both socially and medically. I started facing transphobia, death threats outside, and that’s why I wanted to stay in the hostel,” said 27-year-old Zena Sagar, who identifies as a transwoman.
After a month-long battle, she was finally allotted a room in the women's hostel of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) in Kolkata, West Bengal on 16 June.
Zena recently came out to the world with her identity.
The journey, however, was riddled with a number of challenges, including facing transphobia daily, a financial crunch -- and a lonely fight for amenities such as a room in the women’s hostel.
Zena, a second-year student at the prestigious film institute, hails from Rajasthan and belongs to the Dalit community.
On 12 June, she told The Quint, "While my mother has been really supportive of my journey, I am not taking financial support from my family. For the first two years, I stayed in rented accommodations outside college campus but once I started asserting my identity, I felt there was a threat looming over me."
That's when she turned to SRFTI regarding accommodation, and an endless battle to fight for a safe space began.