Kerala got its first transgender lawyer when Padma Lakshmi enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of the state. The state's industries minister P Rajeev shared a photographer of the lawyer on his official Instagram, congratulating her. As per the minister's post, Padma Lakshmi was one of the more than 1,500 law graduates who were handed over the Bar enrolment certificate and an event organised by the Bar Council of India on Sunday. Padma Lakshmi graduated from Ernakulam Government Law College.

In his Instagram post, Mr Rajeev praised the efforts of the young lawyer for making a path for herself considering she had to face a society that is not the kindest of the most encouraging.

"Congratulations to Padma Lakshmi who overcame all the hurdles of life and enrolled as the first transgender advocate in Kerala. Becoming the first is always the hardest achievement in history. There are no predecessors on the way to the goal. Obstacles will be inevitable. There will be people to mute and discourage. Padma Lakshmi has written her name in the legal history by overcoming all this," Mr Rajeev said in the post translated from Malayalam to English.

"May Padma Lakshmi's life inspire more people from the transgender sector to enter advocacy," he added.

Users were elated by the heart-warming post and many of them posted red heart emoji.

"Congrats and welcome to the Advocate community," one user commented on the minister's post.

Padma Lakshmi's achievement is being praised on social media after Joyita Mondal, who became India's first transgender judge. She was appointed a judge in the Lok Adalat of Islampur in West Bengal in 2017.

In early 2018, transgender activist Vidya Kamble was appointed a member judge in a Lok Adalat in Nagpur in Maharashtra. Later that year, the country got the third transgender judge, Swati Bidhan Baruah, who hails from Guwahati.