Transgender activist suggests 'very young' children should interact with trans community
Subramaniam's organization travels to rural schools in India and meets with young students to 'break stereotypes'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A transgender activist recently suggested during a virtual lecture at the University of South Florida (USF) that it is good for children to be introduced to the transgender community "at a very young age."
Kalki Subramaniam, who is a self-described celebrated Indian transgender activist, artist, entrepreneur, poet, actor and inspirational speaker, delivered a lecture titled "The Power of Art in Social Change" to the USF Department of Women's and Gender Studies in January.
Subramaniam, who lives in India and founded the Sahodari Foundation, spoke about an initiative the organization does called the "Walls of Kindness," in which several transgender activists travel to remote rural and tribal villages to paint the walls of schools with art and meet with staff and young students.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Transgender activist Kalki Subramaniam (YouTube screenshot)
According to the project's website, one of the goals of the project is to interact with students in an attempt to dispel transphobia and break "stereotypes about transgender people and establish that we are positive contributors to this society."
"We establish that transgender people can be changemakers," the website added.
"We do it because at one side we wanted to give something to the society," Subramaniam said of the project during the lecture at USF. The activist went on to say that painting the walls of the rural schools also gives the children they interact with "an opportunity for them to learn about us, for those children to learn about trans community at a very young age."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Transgender activist and actor Kalki Subramaniam along with other LGBT community members during central India's first Gay Pride parade taken out to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on May 17, 2017, in Bhopal, India. (Mujeeb Faruqui/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
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"They have an exposure to people like us, and I think it will stay with them for the rest of their lives because we gave them a very beautiful memory," Subramaniam added.
While sitting next to a portrait of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, Subramaniam spoke for more than an hour about how, "as an artivist, she has broken stereotypes and continues to establishing social acceptance in India by encouraging transgender persons to get involved in activism through art and performances," according to school's description of the video.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Spectators displayed their support toward transgender and non-binary people during a Trans March in Toronto, Ontario, on June 21, 2019. (Anatoliy Cherkasov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Among the other assertions Subramaniam made during the lecture, the activist said, "We were not born as women. We don't have a womb, but we are women. It's just that we are women of another type."
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Fox News Digital reached out to Subramaniam for further comment and specifically asked how the activist would respond to parents who believe it is inappropriate for children to be discussing issues of gender identity with someone other than their family.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Transphobia is a contagious disease and children and young people should be protected from it. The more you educate, the better persons they become," Subramaniam said.
USF did not respond to a request for comment.