Kerala got its first transgender lawyer as transwoman Padma Lakshmi enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of the state in the enrollment ceremony on March 19. She was one among over 1500 law graduates who were admitted on the rolls of the Kerala Bar Council as advocates.The state’s industries minister P Rajeev shared a photographer of Padma Lakshmi on his official Instagram, congratulating her. Padma Lakshmi graduated from Ernakulam Government Law College. He commended her vision to be the voice of the transgender community that has been denied justice for long. In a lengthy post, P Rajeev wrote that her journey will inspire many others from the community.
He wrote, “Congratulations to Padmalakshmi who overcame all the hurdles of life and enrolled as the first transgender advocate in Kerala. Becoming the first is always the hardest achievement in history. There are no predecessors on the way to the goal. Obstacles will be inevitable. There will be people to mute and discourage. Padmalakshmi has written her name in the legal history by overcoming all this.”
“Padmalakshmi’s paths have convinced them on which side to stand in the fight for justice. That is why Padmalakshmi’s words are so sharp that in the journey ahead, the aim is to become the voice of the denied justice with the power of law. May Padmalakshmi’s life inspire more people from the transgender sector to enter advocacy. Adv. Once again congratulations to Padmalakshmi and the 1528 advocates. enrolled yesterday”.
In 2017 India got its first transgender judge when Joyita Mondal was appointed a judge in the Lok Adalat of Islampur in West Bengal in 2017.
In 2018, transgender activist Vidya Kamble was appointed a member judge in a Lok Adalat in Nagpur in Maharashtra. Later that year, the country got the third transgender judge, Swati Bidhan Baruah, who hails from Guwahati.
