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Abstract
This essay is a set of reflections arising out of prolonged conversations in which we compared notes on our respective experiences as activist (Raina) and ethnographer (Aniruddha) working among, and to different extents belonging to, gender/sexually marginalized communities in eastern India. As we shall argue, the attempted universalization of transgender as a transnational "umbrella term" by the development (nongovernmental) sector, the state, and their funders tends to subsume South Asian discourses and practices of gender/sexual variance as merely "local" expressions of transgender identity, without interrogating the conceptual baggage (such as homo-trans and cis-trans binaries) associated with the transgender category. In the Indian context, this process bolsters the long-standing and continuing (post)colonial construction of hierarchies of scale between transnational, regional, and local levels of discourse and praxis, as evidenced in the relation between the hegemonic anglophone discourse of LGBTIQ identities recognized by the state and the development sector, on one hand, and forms of gender/sexual variance that are positioned as relatively regional or local on the other.

This article investigates the impact of COVID-19 on the health and lived experiences of the transgender community in India. In particular, the study analyses how COVID-19 affects the lives of the transgender community in terms of their interaction with the government policymaking and identity negotiation, livelihoods, access to health resources, availability of gender transition services and status of mental health. The analysis shows that the COVID-19 pandemic and the government strategies to curb the spread of infection have exacerbated the challenges faced by the transgender community in India and threatened their survival. As disease outbreaks traditionally perpetuate gender inequities and increase vulnerabilities borne by marginalised groups, the analysis has implications for purposefully creating appropriate platforms for participation of the transgender community and designing and delivering suitable programs and services to enhance their welling and human dignity.