The U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai’s Consul General Mike Hankey (sitting, right) and USAID Deputy Mission Director for India Karen Klimowski (sitting, left) inaugurated the TransFormation salon, March 31. The salon is owned and operated by members of the transgender community. National and regional media outlets across languages and platforms covered the salon launch and applauded the consulate’s efforts to boost locally-led inclusive development, as well as enhance career opportunities for the transgender community. Local YouTube channels and newspapers, reaching an approximate viewership/readership of more than two million, praised Hankey’s hair cut in the salon as a symbolic gesture of imparting dignity to the transgender members running the salon, particularly on the International Transgender Day of Visibility.
Photo by Anish Cherian
