Challenges to Socioeconomic Empowerment of Transgender Communities in Lucknow: A Case Study

From the ancient times the society of India has acknowledged only two genders, which are, male and female and the population which do not belong to these two genders, commonly known as transgender remained the ignored and uncared part of the society.The transgender community in India continues to face multiple forms of social, economic, and institutional exclusion despite constitutional recognition and legal safeguards.This study aims to identify the different socio-economic barriers that are faced by transgenders in Lucknow city that hinders their socio -economic development.The study is based on the primary data collected from 200 transgenders using snowball sampling technique.The findings highlight low educational attainment, engaged in informal occupational settings, undignified jobs and having lower to moderate earnings.The study indicates a significant gap between existing government laws and policies and the actual security of transgender people.A large proportion of the respondents have reported experiencing discrimination, violence and physical assault in accessing basic amenities.The study recommends to give reservation to transgender community in formal occupational opportunities, free training and skill development classes and to make separate legislation to protect them from violence and harassment, to promote the socio-economic empowerment of transgender persons.