Behroopia: A Theater Performance On Gender Dysphoria

‘Our society has always failed to differentiate between gender and sex.’

Are these two the same? Let’s figure out! Gender is the state of being male or female in relation to the social and cultural roles that are considered appropriate for men and women. Sex is the classification of people as male or female, typically assigned at birth based on the appearance of external anatomy/biology.

However, there a number of people who do not identify with their assigned gender.

Don’t worry there’s nothing wrong with them. This is a phenomenon known as Gender Dysphoria. This is a conflict between the assigned gender and the one with which a person wants to identify. This conflict can affect people growing up in a number of different ways, especially in a society where the understanding of sex or gender is very skewed.

Gender Dysphoria can impact how a person may want to express his/her gender. It can influence their behavior as well along with their dressing and self-image.

Some people choose to crossdress, some may choose to socially transition, while some opt for a medical transition but that can only happen after the child has hit puberty. Gender dysphoria is not the same as gender non-conformity, which is behavior not matching to the assigned gender.

Nautankey Production is bringing a theatre play to the city.

Nautankey Productions is a non-profit organization that is raising a voice for the trans community. The unique thing about this play is that it deals with gender dysphoria. The play Behroopia is about a story of a person having gender dysphoria and his struggle of survival in the society.

Behroopia along with a story of struggle is also a story of ideas.

The most basic idea it challenges is that big cities are more welcoming and accommodating. It brings home the point that the social fabric of the country needs to be worked upon. An example of that is that just last year, the Tran Community achieved a feat in Pakistan. The first encompassing Trans Rights Bill was passed. While there is a lot of progress in terms of legislation, the implementation becomes a problem due to largely absent social awareness campaigns by the state.

Behroopia is a voice for those who face non-acceptance for who they are.

It is an attempt to showcase the challenges a person would face growing up with gender dysphoria in this country. The star behind this production is trans activist Khursand Bayar Ali. Khursand Bayar Ali worked as Community Coordinator at NAZ where she came across thousands of stories of oppressed people whose voices are not heard in society. She wanted to raise a voice for them and highlight their issues through the medium of theater which was her inspiration behind Natuankey Productions.