SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Hyderabad: In the wake of a recent report of their members allegedly barging into a family function with the sole aim of extorting huge amounts of money, the transgender community in Siddipet has raised concerns, calling it a misuse of their video footage.
Addressing the media, they said they had visited a family after being invited to a housewarming function.
“Near Mallaram in Siddipet district, in our Yellanthakunta Mandal, our members went to a house where a housewarming ceremony was taking place. The family asked them to sing songs, remove evil eyes (perform a traditional ritual), and celebrate with them. Our members did as requested and sang traditional songs.”
“The owner’s son is a YouTuber. He asked, ‘Sister, we have a YouTube channel. Can I film a video of this and upload it to YouTube?’ Our members agreed… After filming, he uploaded the video and shared that transgender individuals came, removed evil eyes, blessed our family members, and we gave them Rs 2,000. They accepted it happily.’
“Later, a Hyderabad-based YouTube channel/social media page took that video, misrepresented it, and circulated false news claiming, ‘Ten people went to a housewarming, harassed the family, and demanded lakhs of rupees. Such harassment is happening even in villages. They made this fake news viral on social media’,” they said.
The members asked aloud how it was fair to target an entire community, that too over fake news. “If anyone actually commits a crime, you have video evidence and proof. Based on that proof, you can post on social media and take legal action against those specific individuals. Take action against wrongdoers, and we will support you.
“However, making good people look bad on social media, targeting the entire community, and projecting all transgender people as extortionists is completely wrong. Many respectable individuals are in our community. Please ensure the public has the facts before making assumptions or sharing content on social media for views or income. Playing with people’s lives and emotions for your views and revenue is not right.”
The community also asked if content creators should use people’s lives and emotions to generate views and income. Videos made at a family function can be edited and taken out of context, with a different narrative as well.
“You share so many viral videos on social media. When group photos or selfies taken at function halls are uploaded, people misrepresent them as ‘gang photos’ and make negative claims. How is this justified?” they asked.
They pointed out that in the Siddipet and Medak districts, “people invite us to their weddings and auspicious functions, give us invitation cards, and welcome us warmly. We live within this culture and respect…we bless them and accept whatever they give us happily.”
They said they were quick to reprimand any member who does wrong. “If any of our members do something wrong in Siddipet or Medak, our entire community sits together, reprimands them, and corrects them. If they continue to misbehave, we banish them from Siddipet,” they said.
SOURCE : SIASAT
