As if all the coronavirus scares and crashing economies weren’t enough, to make things worse, the pandemic seems to have scratched the ugly side of humans. From an absolute inability to follow instructions (even when they happen to be as simple as staying your own homes) to various instances of racism, some people seem to have their priorities nicely mixed right now.
Just a few days after American President Donald Trump went on referring to coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” unabashedly, the news of a Delhi man spitting on a Manipuri girl and calling her ‘corona’ started doing rounds. Well, our prejudices don’t seem to settle even in the face of a deadly pandemic and it seems like some transphobic individuals have also found the space to add to this muck.
A few days ago, transphobic posters surfaced at Ameerpet Metro Station in Hyderabad. The posters read, “Warning: Do not allow Kojja, Hijras near the shops. If you talk to them or have sex with them, you will be infected with Coronavirus. Beat & drive them away or call 100 immediately. Save people from Corona Virus Hijras”.
#Transphobic Posters at Ameerpet Metro Station reads:
“Warning: Do not allow Kojja, Hijras near the shops. If you talk to them or have sex with them, you will be infected with #CoronaVirus. Beat & drive them away or call 100 immediately. Save people from Corona Virus Hijras". pic.twitter.com/21HP5YBDSp
— Meera Sanghamitra (@meeracomposes) March 29, 2020
Transphobic and disgusting as these posters are, we are not to forget somebody actually flouted the lockdown to take the extra effort of printing these posters and then pasting them around the city. Amidst all this chaos, hatred seems to be the first priority for someone who even risked punishment just to spew this venom.
Thankfully, there are still people who find the act absolutely revolting and have raised the matters to the authorities so that the appropriate action is taken.
Here’s how Twitterati reacted to the poster:
But seriously, what is wrong with people? And all of this continues to happen while we are constantly being told that it is the marginalised who are having it worst during the pandemic. Unlike some of us, they don’t have the luxury to get posters printed right now as they struggle to make ends meet. We can seriously do without this hatred right now because the need of the hour to fight this together.
