In Southern India people have worshipped the Hindu goddess Yellamma for over ten thousand years. She is the goddess of sickness and skin disease.  One ‘sickness’ she is particularly associated with is transgenderism; it is believed that she has the power to turn a man into a woman. 

Male devotees of Yellamma are called Jogappas.  They are transgender men who wear saris and jewellery belonging to married Indian women.  They are forbidden from marrying because they are considered to be the brides of Yellamma. 

Jogappas are extremely auspicious and are treated with respect and fear by ordinary people, who see them as at once cursed and divine; any mistreatment could inspire the wrath of the all-powerful Yellamma.  Her protection enables them to wander freely dressed as women without fear of discrimination.

With Indian society rigidly structured around traditional gender roles and the importance of marriage and male progeny, homosexuality carries a huge stigma.  Section 377 of the Indian penal code, a law left over from the Raj era, criminalises sex between men.  Government HIV statistics ignore the existence of the MSM (Men who have Sex with Men) community, of which there are estimated to be 50 million.  Stigma, discrimination and violence are experienced daily by these men, from family members, the general public and the police.

All photographs were taken in Sangli in August 2007 with the help of SANGRAM ‘Sampada Gramin Mahila Sanstha’ an organisation dedicated to fighting HIV through the mobilisation and collectivisation of sex workers and Muskan, a collective that works within the MSM community to share information about STD’s and HIV prevention and to support their struggles with gender and sexual identities and the pressure from family and society to be normal.
www.sangram.com