In 2019, Adam Harry shot to fame as the country's first transgender trainee pilot, set to receive support from the Kerala Government to become a commercial pilot. Two years later, he is a delivery man for Zomato because the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) says he is unfit to fly as long as he is on hormone therapy.
The 23-year-old, a private-pilot license (PPL) holder from South Africa, secured admission to the Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology in Thiruvananthapuram in January 2020 under the Kerala Government’s welfare fund for transgender people. A PPL allows its holder to fly an aeroplane as a hobbyist, whereas a commercial pilot can make a career in flying.
Mr. Harry joined the institute and was soon required to undergo the Class 2 medical test to secure a student pilot's license. Mr. Harry was assigned female at birth. He identified himself as a trans man before the officials and displayed male physiological characteristics such as a beard and a male voice, yet he had no choice but to submit his application as a female because the DGCA's medical examination form doesn't include options for non-binary genders.
