{"id":6987,"date":"2016-07-22T10:57:49","date_gmt":"2016-07-22T05:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987"},"modified":"2016-07-22T10:57:49","modified_gmt":"2016-07-22T05:27:49","slug":"why-designer-saisha-shinde-coming-out-as-a-trans-woman-needs-to-be-celebrated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=6987","title":{"rendered":"Why Designer Saisha Shinde Coming Out as a Trans Woman Needs to Be Celebrated"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

M<\/span>ost of us look forward to a new year and the new beginnings that come with it, especially after a tough year. But few of us have embraced change in the very first week of 2021 like fashion designer to the stars, Saisha Shinde. Shinde has long been one of the most popular stylists for Bollywood A-listers like Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, and Anushka Sharma. Today, however, Shinde is hitting the headlines for other reasons. She made a big announcement on her Instagram page @officialswapnilshinde, coming out as a transwoman. Along with her statement, Shinde debuted the first public pictures of herself in identity as a woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To come out as LGBTQ+, particularly in India, is an act of courage \u2014 one that is compounded by coming out as trans<\/a>. In the statement, Shinde acknowledges that she first realised she was different during her early days studying at National Institute of Fashion Technology, where she found she was attracted to men. As a result, Shinde thought her identity was that of a gay man<\/a>, and only in recent years has she discovered herself as a transwoman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shinde\u2019s journey mirrors another high-profile coming out story: that of Hollywood actor Elliot Page of X-Men<\/em> and Juno<\/em> fame. In 2014, Page had come out as a lesbian<\/a>. Last December, however, he also posted about his true identity as a trans person on Instagram, along with a picture of himself. Just as Page earlier spoke of relief at being able to live the truth as an out lesbian, Shinde describes her feelings of finally finding acceptance at NIFT. She shares how she was bullied in school and college for being different from the boys and not fitting into a stereotypical gender role. According to Shinde, NIFT is where she \u201cbloomed\u201d, among peers who were more open-minded toward LGBTQ+ identities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Shinde and Page first found the comfort to express themselves through the context of their sexuality<\/a>, before later coming to terms with their gender identity. On one hand, each of their experiences serves as an illustration of how marginalised the transgender community is; even within the larger queer community it\u2019s a minority of a minority. For both public figures, it was easier to count on some degree of mainstream understanding for being gay or lesbian than for the various physical and mental complexities of gender dysphoria. After all, even the queer community at large is not always welcoming towards its transgender individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s why Shinde\u2019s decision to publicly live in her own skin is so important. In India, even after Sec 377 was repealed two years ago, we rarely hear of people in the public eye coming out \u2013 not even as homosexuals<\/a>. Then, someone as known as Shinde declaring that she is transgender is unheard of. It\u2019s a brave decision and a significant one \u2013 a validation for the trans community in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shinde\u2019s coming out is bound to create a conversation, which only means that it will raise more awareness in society. And it\u2019s one more step toward the hope that trans people will find acceptance and be treated as equals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To say that representation matters is a cliche, yet how many trans people in India and around the world are like Shinde once was, denied the liberation to articulate their truth simply because they so rarely see it around them? Apart from hijras, who make up one specific social construct<\/a> of gender outside the cis binary, we have hardly any examples of transpeople who exist openly in our daily life. Thanks to Shinde, young people both cis and trans have more evidence than ever to show that gender can\u2019t be limited by society\u2019s narrow ideas, and they don\u2019t have to be either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fashion designer Saisha Shinde made a big announcement today, coming out as a transwoman. To come out as LGBTQ+, particularly in India, is an act of courage \u2014 one that is compounded by coming out as trans. Shinde\u2019s decision offers visibility to the transgender community in India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":6988,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Designer Saisha Shinde Coming Out as a Trans Woman Needs to Be Celebrated<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fashion designer Saisha Shinde made a big announcement today, coming out as a transwoman. To come out as LGBTQ+, particularly in India, is an act of courage \u2014 one that is compounded by coming out as trans. Shinde\u2019s decision offers visibility to the transgender community in India.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Designer Saisha Shinde Coming Out as a Trans Woman Needs to Be Celebrated\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fashion designer Saisha Shinde made a big announcement today, coming out as a transwoman. To come out as LGBTQ+, particularly in India, is an act of courage \u2014 one that is compounded by coming out as trans. Shinde\u2019s decision offers visibility to the transgender community in India.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-22T05:27:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1609948163-1024x573.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"573\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kahini Iyer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Why Designer Saisha Shinde Coming Out as a Trans Woman Needs to Be Celebrated\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Fashion designer Saisha Shinde made a big announcement today, coming out as a transwoman. To come out as LGBTQ+, particularly in India, is an act of courage \u2014 one that is compounded by coming out as trans. Shinde\u2019s decision offers visibility to the transgender community in India.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kahini Iyer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6987#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6987\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kahini Iyer\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dfa7873b3da2fc04ce9c2175364ca0e1\"},\"headline\":\"Why Designer Saisha Shinde Coming Out as a Trans Woman Needs to Be Celebrated\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-22T05:27:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6987\"},\"wordCount\":640,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6987#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1609948163.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Gender\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6987\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6987\",\"name\":\"Why Designer Saisha Shinde Coming Out as a Trans Woman Needs to Be Celebrated\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6987#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6987#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1609948163.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-22T05:27:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dfa7873b3da2fc04ce9c2175364ca0e1\"},\"description\":\"Fashion designer Saisha Shinde made a big announcement today, coming out as a transwoman. To come out as LGBTQ+, particularly in India, is an act of courage \u2014 one that is compounded by coming out as trans. Shinde\u2019s decision offers visibility to the transgender community in India.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6987#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6987\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6987#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1609948163.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1609948163.png\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=6987#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Designer Saisha Shinde Coming Out as a Trans Woman Needs to Be Celebrated\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dfa7873b3da2fc04ce9c2175364ca0e1\",\"name\":\"Kahini Iyer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/28f0aaa78fb3c2e6f74a6b9942c215b9e05c4f129048918912e608a6e3d60946?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/28f0aaa78fb3c2e6f74a6b9942c215b9e05c4f129048918912e608a6e3d60946?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/28f0aaa78fb3c2e6f74a6b9942c215b9e05c4f129048918912e608a6e3d60946?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kahini Iyer\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=208\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Designer Saisha Shinde Coming Out as a Trans Woman Needs to Be Celebrated","description":"Fashion designer Saisha Shinde made a big announcement today, coming out as a transwoman. To come out as LGBTQ+, particularly in India, is an act of courage \u2014 one that is compounded by coming out as trans. Shinde\u2019s decision offers visibility to the transgender community in India.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Designer Saisha Shinde Coming Out as a Trans Woman Needs to Be Celebrated","og_description":"Fashion designer Saisha Shinde made a big announcement today, coming out as a transwoman. To come out as LGBTQ+, particularly in India, is an act of courage \u2014 one that is compounded by coming out as trans. Shinde\u2019s decision offers visibility to the transgender community in India.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-07-22T05:27:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":573,"url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1609948163-1024x573.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kahini Iyer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Why Designer Saisha Shinde Coming Out as a Trans Woman Needs to Be Celebrated","twitter_description":"Fashion designer Saisha Shinde made a big announcement today, coming out as a transwoman. To come out as LGBTQ+, particularly in India, is an act of courage \u2014 one that is compounded by coming out as trans. Shinde\u2019s decision offers visibility to the transgender community in India.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kahini Iyer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987"},"author":{"name":"Kahini Iyer","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/dfa7873b3da2fc04ce9c2175364ca0e1"},"headline":"Why Designer Saisha Shinde Coming Out as a Trans Woman Needs to Be Celebrated","datePublished":"2016-07-22T05:27:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987"},"wordCount":640,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1609948163.png","articleSection":["Gender"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987","name":"Why Designer Saisha Shinde Coming Out as a Trans Woman Needs to Be Celebrated","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1609948163.png","datePublished":"2016-07-22T05:27:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/dfa7873b3da2fc04ce9c2175364ca0e1"},"description":"Fashion designer Saisha Shinde made a big announcement today, coming out as a transwoman. To come out as LGBTQ+, particularly in India, is an act of courage \u2014 one that is compounded by coming out as trans. Shinde\u2019s decision offers visibility to the transgender community in India.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1609948163.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1609948163.png","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=6987#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Designer Saisha Shinde Coming Out as a Trans Woman Needs to Be Celebrated"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/dfa7873b3da2fc04ce9c2175364ca0e1","name":"Kahini Iyer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28f0aaa78fb3c2e6f74a6b9942c215b9e05c4f129048918912e608a6e3d60946?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28f0aaa78fb3c2e6f74a6b9942c215b9e05c4f129048918912e608a6e3d60946?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28f0aaa78fb3c2e6f74a6b9942c215b9e05c4f129048918912e608a6e3d60946?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kahini Iyer"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=208"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1609948163.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}