Adam Harry, who was in the news in 2019 for becoming India’s first transgender pilot, was denied the right to fly by the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation), on grounds that he was physically unfit.
The reason given for the same was that he is on hormone therapy and is experiencing gender dysphoria. The latter can be described as the feeling of emotional disconnect between one’s biological sex assigned at birth and gender.
To state either as grounds for disqualification, is discriminatory. The nature of a person’s emotional dilemma should not be presumed and a confusion, even if it does exist in their mind, should not become the reason why they can’t land a job.
Unfortunately, it gets worse, Adam was made to appear for the test appear as his sex assigned at birth despite being mid-transition. The DGCA follows a strict, and archaic, two-gender policy that only allows ‘men’ and ‘women’ to undergo medical examinations.
Since being denied the opportunity to fly, Adam has been working as a delivery person for Zomato. This comes after he received a grant from the Kerala government to pursue his dream.
Adam learned flying in South Africa, where he moved after his parents allegedly took him to a psychiatrist to ‘cure’ him. It’s truly unfortunate that any person would have to go through this.
This is pretty much people in authority punishing someone for their identity, and it is the single most problematic thing to exist.