Every year on 20 November, people around the world observe the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to remember transgender people whose lives were lost to violence and hate. At the Civilian Welfare Foundation (CWF), a women-led NGO in Kolkata, we mark this day by looking at one of the places where discrimination does quiet, everyday harm: the clinic. This post sets out what CWF has done for transgender healthcare in Kolkata and across West Bengal, and where you can help.

Why healthcare belongs on a day of remembrance

Remembrance is about more than the violence that makes the news. Many transgender people in India put off seeing a doctor because they expect judgement, delay or a flat refusal. CWF's research has recorded the forms this takes: treatment delayed or refused, patients placed in the wrong wards, and poor HIV post-exposure care after sexual violence. When people stop seeking care, illnesses that could be treated go undiagnosed. Honouring the people we have lost means changing the systems that fail the people who are still here.

A pioneer in transgender healthcare since 2012

CWF has worked on transgender healthcare rights in India since 2012, when we began to argue that basic, dignified and affirming medical care is a civil right. We started what we believe was the first research study in India on access to basic healthcare for transgender people, so that the case for change would rest on evidence.

We have continued that work with researchers from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. A study begun in October 2016 set out to interview 300 doctors across five Indian cities about transphobia and its effects on care, and Scroll reported on it in November 2017. Today CWF Labs, our transdisciplinary healthcare and research unit, is running a cross-sectional study on cytomegalovirus infection, depression, anxiety, well-being and pain among the LGBTQIA+ population in India. If your institution would like to work with us, see our research page.

“Health is Wealth” and a documentary on trans healthcare

From 2017 to 2019, with support from the United Nations Global Youth Empowerment Fund, CWF ran “Health is Wealth”, a basic healthcare project for transgender people. The project produced what we believe was Asia's first documentary on basic healthcare for transgender individuals, made with a transgender documentary team in North Bengal. The film recorded 22 types of discrimination that trans people face in health centres across West Bengal.

Gender-affirmative health camps

Evidence only matters if it reaches people, so CWF runs trans-affirmative health camps where transgender and non-binary people can get tested and examined without fear:

• Kolkata, 2023–24: more than 100 transgender and non-binary people, with partners Apollo Hospitals, Legrand and Kolkata Anandam.
• Ranaghat, 2024–25: more than 100 people, with Apollo Hospitals, Legrand and Ranaghat Sampriti Society.
• CR Park, New Delhi, 2024–25 (two camps): more than 150 people, with Legrand, Eshna Pain Care Foundation and India HIV/AIDS Alliance.

Services at the camps included blood tests (CBC, thyroid and creatinine, plus an STI panel in Delhi), consultations with a nutritionist, and physical and mental health assessments. In Bolpur, CWF Labs offers affordable diagnostic tests with home sample collection, so care continues after the camps end.

Training trans and queer healthcare workers

Care becomes safer when people from the community are part of the healthcare workforce. That is the idea behind CWF's Gender-Affirmative Paramedical Training Course, which we believe is the first course in India designed specifically for LGBTQIA+ people. The first batch, in Bolpur, was run in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Doctors, scientists and clinical educators from institutions including Tata Medical Centre, Suraksha Diagnostics and the West Bengal Department of Health guided the training. By March 2025, many students in the pilot batch had found jobs. In 2025 the course expanded to Kolkata with a new batch, in collaboration with Legrand India.

The course tackles two gaps at once. Queer people lack dignified ways to earn a living, and there are far too few sensitised healthcare workers to treat LGBTQIA+ patients. Each graduate helps close both gaps.

Conversations that change practice

CWF also holds sessions to change attitudes inside institutions. These include a focus group discussion with social activists and paramedical course students on what queer people face in healthcare settings, and a Pride Month 2024 session on the intersection of disability and gender, led by Ms. Shampa Sengupta, Director of Sruti Disability Rights, and attended by 60 interns, volunteers and employees. You can read more about our gender rights programme on the What We Do page.

About CWF

Civilian Welfare Foundation is a women-led NGO, established in 2011, with offices in Kolkata, Bolpur and Delhi-NCR. We are registered on NITI Aayog's NGO Darpan (ID WB/2018/0191418), and our work has appeared in more than 400 media publications. Beyond gender rights, we work on disability inclusion and education. That work includes India's first National Para-Triathlon, Unified Theatre with Special Olympics Bharat, and Icchedanar Pathshala, which won the IFCCI Best CSR award in 2022.

How you can help this Transgender Day of Remembrance

Remembrance should lead to action. Your support pays for health camps, diagnostic tests and training for transgender and non-binary people in West Bengal and beyond.

• Donate: make a donation online. CWF is registered under 80G (AACAP9946P25KL02) and 12A (AACAP9946P25KL01), so eligible donations are tax-deductible. Details are on our donate page.
• Partner with us: CWF is CSR-1 registered (CSR00010154). Companies can support trans-affirmative health camps and the paramedical course as part of their CSR programmes.
• Volunteer or intern: join us in Kolkata, Bolpur or Delhi-NCR.

This 20 November, we remember those we have lost and keep working for a society where every transgender person can see a doctor safely and with dignity.