Beoncy Laishram, Northeast’s first
transgender doctor, is a resident medical officer at Shija
Hospitals and Research Institue in Imphal. She is a COVID warrior and says that her colleagues
support and cooperate with her.

“Every nurse and doctor supports me. All colleagues
cooperate with me and treat me well. I never faced any
discrimination in my medical school. They accepted and supported me. I always wanted
to be a doctor,” the 27-year-old told news agency ANI. 

Laishram, who previously went by the name of Boboi Laishram,
opened up to her family in 2013, but had to go back inside the closet after
her father tried to kill himself.

However, in 2016, she started identifying herself as
a Nupi Maanbi – a marginalized transwomen community.

“I was born a boy, but by the time I was in Class 9 or 10, I
did not identify as male. I got admission in MBBS at RIMS in 2011, and decided to
come out to my family in 2013. My father was so upset that he tried to kill himself,”
Times of India quoted her as saying.

“I went right back into the closet. Around 2016, I realised
I could no longer live that life. It was then that I began openly identifying
as a Nupi Maanbi,” she said.

Laishram changed her name in 2013 when she participated in Miss
Trans Queen Northeast – a beauty pageant.

According to the report, ties with her parents have mended
and she also helps disadvantaged Nupi Maanbis get access to healthcare.

“Human beings are all equal. We didn’t look at Beoncy’s
gender while hiring her,” TOI quoted surgeon Sorokhaibam Jugindra, medical
superintendent of Shija Hospitals and Research Institute.