In conversation with Sunita, Community Researcher

Can you tell us about your work?

Through the Count Us In fellowship, I researched the mental health experiences of gender-variant adolescents in my community. We explored different aspects of their lives—their families, livelihoods, mental wellbeing, and everyday experiences of exclusion. What emerged clearly from the research was that many gender-variant adolescents receive little or no mental health support. Many experience rejection within their families and stigma within their communities.

Today, my work focuses on strengthening family relationships, building confidence among gender-variant adolescents, and creating greater acceptance and awareness within communities.

How accepted are gender-variant adolescents within the communities you work in?

The answer is complicated. When we engage with people and communities, many begin to understand and reflect on what gender variance means. Some become supportive. Some continue to avoid or reject these conversations. But I have also seen that change is possible.

There are individuals in communities who genuinely stand beside gender-variant adolescents, not for show, but because they believe in supporting them. Such allies may be few, but they play an important role in creating acceptance and belonging.

Can you share an experience that deeply affected you?

There was a gender-variant adolescent who was in a relationship with another girl. When her family discovered this, they wanted to arrange her marriage, despite her clearly expressing that she did not want to marry and wanted to live life on her own terms. At one point, she told me that she was considering ending her life. I spoke to her several times a day. I listened. I reminded her that her life mattered.

Months later, when I met her again, she told me: “If I hadn’t met you, I don’t think I would be alive today.” That experience stayed with me. It reminded me that sometimes support begins with simply being present and listening.

What does Pride mean to you?

I don’t think Pride is only about visibility. I think Pride emerges from the search for acceptance.

When people do not feel accepted within their homes or communities, they look for spaces where they can belong, where they can express themselves, and where they can feel seen. For many gender-variant people, Pride represents that search for acceptance, dignity, and community.

“Mental wellbeing cannot be separated from belonging, acceptance, and dignity.”

— Sunita, Community Researcher, Count Us In