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{{Short description|Indian actress}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Living Smile Vidya
| image = Living_smile_Vidya_Profile.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1982|03|25}}
| occupation = Actor, writer, transgender rights activist
}}

'''Living Smile Vidya''', or '''Smiley''', is an Indian actress, assistant director, writer, and trans and Dalit rights activist<ref name=":8">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/Despair-before-hope/article16448484.ece|title=Despair before hope|last=Rao|first=Subha J.|date=2016-11-15|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-08-17|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> from [[Chennai]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://orinam.net/living-smile-vidya-wins-charles-wallace-2013-scholarship/|title=Living Smile Vidya wins Charles Wallace 2013 scholarship|date=2013-05-06|website=Orinam|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-09}}</ref><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/transgender-woman-opens-home-chennai-flood-affected-36561|title=Transgender woman opens up home for Chennai flood-affected|last=Das|first=Monalisa|date=December 4, 2015|website=The News Minute|access-date=2019-03-09}}</ref> Her autobiography 'I am Vidya' has been translated into seven languages and made into a feature film that won several National Film Awards.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":10" /> She also made history as the first trans woman in India to have her chosen gender identity reflected in her passport.<ref name=":3" />

== Early life ==
She described her family as belonging to the [[Arunthatiyar]] caste in Andhra Pradesh, migrating to Chennai several generations ago. Her mother, a [[Dalit]] woman, worked as a street cleaner, in addition to domestic work.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://sanhati.com/excerpted/6051/|title=(Trans)gender and caste lived experience – Transphobia as a form of Brahminism: An Interview of Living Smile Vidya|website=sanhati.com|access-date=2019-03-09}}</ref> As a child, she described herself as being "a woman in my heart…even as I was being given male privilege.…I was mistaken to be male and couldn’t yet articulate that I was a girl and so I was educated much more than my sisters." In a 2013 interview, Smiley traces the roots of her public art and activism to her realization that "since all women get oppressed under patriarchy, and trans women and dalit women through the combined might of patriarchy with casteism and transphobia, I might as well have a loud mouth and be assertive than take everything silently – to be a strong but silent woman was not enough."<ref name=":5" />

Vidya holds a master's degree<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bgdblog.org/2015/09/an-interview-with-panmai-a-trans-and-caste-oppressed-theatre-troupe-from-india/|title=An Interview with Panmai, A Trans and Mixed-Caste Theatre Troupe from India|last=Ahmad|first=Asam|date=2015-09-28|website=BGD|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-09}}</ref> from [[Tamil University|Tanjavur Tamil University]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/trans-indians-beg-for-mercy-killings-rather-than-lives-of-discrimination/|title=Trans Indians beg for mercy killings rather than lives of discrimination|date=2015-09-07|work=Gay Star News|access-date=2017-04-15|language=en-GB|archive-date=16 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416132521/http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/trans-indians-beg-for-mercy-killings-rather-than-lives-of-discrimination/|url-status=dead}}</ref> in applied linguistics. In a 2014 interview, she said "while doing my post-graduation at university, I spent most of the time in the Theater Department rather than my Linguistics Department…So I was able to do a couple of plays."<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=https://theheroines.blogspot.com/2014/03/interview-with-living-smile-vidya.html|title=The Heroines of My Life: Interview with Living Smile Vidya|last=Kowalska|first=Monika|date=2014-03-02|website=The Heroines of My Life|access-date=2019-03-09}}</ref>

After she moved away from [[Thanjavur]], she begged for a living.<ref name=":4" /> After [[Sex reassignment surgery|gender-reassignment surgery]], she settled in Tamil Nadu, where she began her career working for two years at a rural bank in [[Madurai]], and got involved with theatre.<ref name=":4" />

== Film and theatre ==
[[File:Living Smile Vidya in theater.jpg|thumb|Living Smile Vidya in a theatrical performance]]
Smiley has been described as the first full-time trans theater actress in India, participating in over twenty performances with at least nine directors.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://drambedkarbooks.com/2015/04/21/dalit-history-month-inspirational-living-smile-vidya/|title=Dalit History Month – Inspirational Living Smile Vidya|date=2015-04-21|website=Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's Caravan|language=en|access-date=2019-03-09}}</ref> According to ''Orinam'', Smiley known for her acting if Srijith Sundaram's Kattiyakkaari production ''Molagapodi''.<ref name=":0" />

She has acted in several short films, including ''Kandal Pookkal'' and ''500 & 5'', and in documentary films ''Aghrinaigal'' and ''Butterfly''.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thehindulfl.com/living-smile-vidya|title=Living Smile Vidya — Artist|website=The Hindu Lit for Life|language=en-US|access-date=2017-04-15|archive-date=16 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416130159/http://www.thehindulfl.com/living-smile-vidya|url-status=dead}}</ref> She acted in [[Leena Manimekalai]]'s 2017 film ''Is it Too Much to Ask?'', where she plays a trans woman seeking housing in Chennai, but facing discrimination; the film, a mix of fiction and documentary, was based in part on her own extensive experiences with housing discrimination.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scroll.in/reel/859489/two-transwomen-in-chennai-go-looking-for-a-house-to-rent-is-it-too-much-to-ask-is-aptly-named|title=Two transwomen in Chennai go looking for a house to rent. 'Is it Too Much To Ask? is aptly named|last=Ramnath|first=Nandini|website=Scroll.in|date=28 November 2017 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/transwoman-and-activist-living-smile-vidya-talks-about-the-experience-of-watching-her-life-unfold-in-the-national-awardwinning-naan-avanalla-avalu/article7827107.ece|title=Her life on screen|last=Rao|first=Subha J.|date=2015-10-31|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-03-09|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

In addition to theater, Smiley has worked as a clown,<ref name=":8" /> and described her experience as a dancer as being an important part of her journey as a trans woman.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/246235139|title=EF_FEMININITY - dancer profile: Living Smile Vidya|last1=Schwald|first1=Marcel|last2=Leuenberger|first2=Chris|website=Vimeo|date=7 December 2017}}</ref>

She has also worked as an [[Assistant director|Assistant Director]] in [[Tamil cinema|Tamil]] and [[Malayalam cinema|Malayalam movies]].

In 2013, Smiley was awarded a scholarship by the Charles Wallace India Trust to pursue theatre in the UK.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/transcending-odds-she-is-set-to-study-theatre-in-london/article5463278.ece|title=Transcending odds, she is set to study theatre in London|last1=Sujatha|first1=R.|date=2013-12-16|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-03-09|last2=Sangameswaran|first2=K. T.|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> She spent six months of theater training at the [[London International School of Performing Arts]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" />

In 2014, Smiley co-founded the [[Panmai]] theatre troupe in [[Tamil Nadu]], along with fellow trans activists Angel Glady and Gee Imaan Semmalar, inspired in part by cultural groups she saw in London.<ref name=":2" /> Panmai's productions included ''Colour of Trans 2.0'', which has been performed in India and the United States.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/150912/lifestyle-booksart/article/living-trans|title=Living in a trans|last=Sarkar|first=Shreya|date=2015-09-12|website=Deccan Chronicle|language=en|access-date=2019-03-09}}</ref>

In 2019, she performed her piece, ''Scars'', in Switzerland. The piece touches on the mental and physical scars that associated with having her male body blend into her feminine identity.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://derbund.ch/articles/22127277|title=Verdiene ich diese Narben?|last=Feuz|first=Gisela|date=January 30, 2019|work=[[Der Bund]]|access-date=2019-03-09|language=de|issn=0774-6156}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rabe.ch/2019/01/30/living-smile-vidya-bei-schamlos/|title=Living Smile Vidya bei "Schamlos"|website=Radio Bern RaBe|date=30 January 2019 |language=de-DE|access-date=2019-03-09}}</ref>

== Activism ==
The [[Dalit History Month]] project describes Living Smile Vidya as "the first trans person [in India] to have her chosen gender identity reflected in her passport."<ref name=":3" /> She burned her hard-earned identity cards in protest against the Trans Bill 2026.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHQ-k1BjDcs |title=I am burning my indian IDs to Reject Trans Bill 2026 |date=2026-03-26 |last=Living Smile She sie elle |access-date=2026-04-01 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

Smiley has engaged in activism rooted in Dalit and trans communities, and has been critical of [[Varna (Hinduism)|savarna]] transgender people who claim to represent her entire community.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thewire.in/lgbtqia/caste-religion-hijra-community|title=Caste and Religion Create Barriers Within the Hijra Community|website=The Wire|access-date=2019-03-09}}</ref>

She was one of several trans people who approached the Madras High Court asking for a 3% reservation under a new category. “When parents see a transgender child," she said, "they think of begging or sex work as their future. How will they accept their own children if these are their only options?”<ref name=":3" /> In a 2013 interview, she said "We need reservation on the basis of gender, not caste. But it has to be more complex. But I definitely do not want to be OBC. And you will understand why as a Dalit, I do not want to come under the OBC category of all things! Puttings transgenders under a oppressed caste category erases the caste privileges that savarna transgenders have. It is better for us to have caste and gender based reservation so that Dalit women and Dalit transgenders get representation. Otherwise reservation will only benefit savarna transgenders and dalit men."

Smiley reports receiving death threats for her activism around caste starting in 2014 or 2015; her subsequent application for asylum in Switzerland was denied.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/you-re-educated-safe-india-swiss-officials-reject-chennai-trans-woman-s-asylum-86074|title='You're educated, safe in India': Swiss officials reject Chennai trans woman's asylum|last=Mantri|first=Geetika|date=August 6, 2018|website=The News Minute|access-date=2019-03-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jansatta.com/trending-news/transgender-theatre-activist-living-smile-vidya-application-rejected-by-an-asylum-in-switzerland-after-getting-threats-for-her-views-on-caste-and-brahminism/731765/|title=भारत छोड़ना चाहती है यह किन्नर एक्टिविस्ट, पर स्विजरलैंड ने नहीं दी शरण|date=2018-08-07|website=Jansatta|language=hi|access-date=2019-03-09}}</ref>

== Autobiography and film ==
Smiley's autobiography ''I Am Vidya''<ref name=":10">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=adSfAAAAQBAJ&q=i+am+vidya|title=I Am Vidya: A Transgender's Journey|last=Vidya|first=Living Smile|date=2014-11-01|publisher=Rupa Publications|isbn=9788129123985|language=en}}</ref> was written in [[Tamil language|Tamil]], and translated into seven languages, including [[English language|English]], [[Malayalam]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], and [[Kannada]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> She was the subject of the award-winning [[Kannada]] film ''[[Naanu Avanalla...Avalu]]'', based on her autobiography of the same name.<ref name=":9">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/transwoman-and-activist-living-smile-vidya-talks-about-the-experience-of-watching-her-life-unfold-in-the-national-awardwinning-naan-avanalla-avalu/article7827107.ece|title=Her life on screen|last=Rao|first=Subha J|date=31 October 2015|newspaper=The Hindu|access-date=13 February 2019|language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidya, Living Smile}}
[[Category:Actresses from Chennai]]
[[Category:Transgender women writers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1982 births]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:Indian LGBTQ rights activists]]
[[Category:Indian transgender actresses]]
[[Category:Indian transgender rights activists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian actresses]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:Indian transgender writers]]
[[Category:Indian autobiographers]]
[[Category:Women autobiographers]]

Living Smile Vidya - Revision history

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