https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Aqsa_ShaikhAqsa Shaikh - Revision history2026-09-17T21:46:40ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aqsa_Shaikh&diff=487197&oldid=prevBhupendra: put up...2026-02-18T21:24:19Z<p>put up...</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Associate Indian professor and transgender rights activist}}<br />
[[File:Aqsa Shaikh at Vax centres.jpg|thumb|Aqsa Shaikh at a COVID-19 vaccination centre at Jamia Hamdard]]<br />
'''Aqsa Shaikh''' (born {{circa|1983}}) is a Professor of the Department of Community Medicine in Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, [[Jamia Hamdard]], [[New Delhi]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr. Aqsa Shaikh |url=https://www.himsr.co.in/doctor-profile/dr-aqsa-shaikh/ |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences & Research (HIMSR) |language=en-US}}</ref> She is a [[transgender woman]] and a [[transgender rights activist]].<br />
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== Early life and background ==<br />
Shaikh was born in [[Islampura]], southern [[Mumbai]], where societal norms and gender expectations were deeply entrenched. From a young age, her gender identity did not align with the expectations imposed upon her as someone [[assigned male at birth]]. She faced discouragement and bullying for exhibiting [[gender variant]] behaviour, such as applying [[mehendi]] and playing with girls.<br />
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In 2003, while pursuing her medical education at [[King Edward Memorial Hospital and Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College]], Shaikh began looking up medical literature of the time to understand her [[gender identity]]. She did not feel comfortable with the term "[[gender identity disorder]]", but identified as a trans woman.<ref name="TIE">{{cite news |last1=Ghosh |first1=Rinku |title='I was not sick; I just wanted to be a woman' |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/independence-day-freedom-transgender-rights-aqsa-shaikh-8889117/ |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=[[The Indian Express]] |date=15 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230816013549/https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/independence-day-freedom-transgender-rights-aqsa-shaikh-8889117/ |archive-date=16 August 2023}}</ref><br />
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== Gender transition and advocacy ==<br />
Wishing to live socially as a woman, Shaikh [[came out]] to her parents.<ref name="TIE" /> She sought medical and psychological support (including seeing a counsellor)<ref name="Thomas">{{cite news |last1=Thomas |first1=Mini P |title=Meet Dr Aqsa Shaikh, the first transgender to head a Covid centre in India |url=https://www.theweek.in/health/more/2021/05/26/meet-dr-aqsa-shaikh-the-first-transgender-to-head-a-covid-centre-in-india.html |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=[[The Week (Indian magazine)|The Week]] |date=6 June 2021}}</ref> and underwent [[Transgender hormone therapy|hormone therapy]] and various [[Gender-affirming surgery|gender-affirming surgical procedures]], including [[breast augmentation]]. Throughout her [[Gender transition|transition]], Shaikh discussed her experiences with her students and patients.<ref name="TIE" /><br />
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She is an educator at [[Jamia Hamdard]], and has talked about her transition story in order to dismantle stigma and discrimination against transgender people in India, as well as encouraging greater visibility and recognition of [[transgender rights in India]] within society and religious communities.<ref name="TIE" /><br />
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In 2021, she became the first trans woman to head a [[COVID-19 vaccination]] centre in India.<ref name="Thomas" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Dr. Aqsa Shaikh - The Transgender Doctor Fighting Ignorance With Empathy |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/national/dr-aqsa-shaikh-the-transgender-doctor-fighting-ignorance-with-empathy-videos-218006 |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook India]] |date=22 August 2022}}</ref> Shaikh, along with doctors [[Satendra Singh (doctor)|Satendra Singh]] and Sanjay Sharma, successfully petitioned the [[Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights]] to recommend that the [[Government of Delhi|Delhi government]] ban medically unnecessary [[Intersex medical interventions|medical interventions on intersex children]].<ref>{{Cite news | last=Menon |first=Priya|date=13 January 2021 |title=DCPCR recommends ban on sex assignment surgeries on intersex children in Delhi |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/dcpcr-recommends-ban-on-sex-assignment-surgeries-on-intersex-children-in-delhi/articleshow/80253025.cms |access-date=16 March 2022 |work=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref><br />
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== References ==<br />
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== Further reading ==<br />
* {{cite news |last1=Akhter |first1=Shahid |title=We need an entire ecosystem of transgender healthcare providers: Dr Aqsa Shaikh, Hamdard Institute Of Medical Sciences and Research|url=https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/we-need-an-entire-ecosystem-of-transgender-healthcare-providers-dr-aqsa-shaikh-hamdard-institute-of-medical-sciences-and-research/102254819 |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=[[The Economic Times|ET Healthworld]] |date=31 July 2023}}<br />
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[[Category:1980s births]]<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian medical doctors]]<br />
[[Category:Indian transgender women]]<br />
[[Category:LGBTQ medical doctors]]<br />
[[Category:LGBTQ media personalities]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian women medical doctors]]</div>Bhupendra