India made history on Sunday when it elected its first transgender mayor, nine months after India's courts ruled that trans people could be legally recognised as gender-neutral. Madhu Bai Kinnar won the election in the state of Chhattisgarh, thrashing her opponent from the Bharatiya Janata Party by around 4,357 votes.

Kinnarr reportedly funded her campaign by singing and dancing on trains in India, and only quit her day job when she was asked to stand for mayor.

"It was the public support that encouraged me to enter the poll fray for the first time and because of their support only, I emerged as the winner," she said. "People have shown faith in me. I consider this win as love and blessings of people for me. I'll put in my best efforts to accomplish their dreams."

It's estimated that there are around two million transgender people in India, commonly known as hijras. In April last year, India's highest court ruled that "it is the right of every human being to choose their gender" and declared that they must be given equal opportunity to grow. Three months later, an Indian TV station hired a transgender news anchor for the first time.

Transgender people in politics and on TV? That's way ahead of the UK.