Law must recognise dignity, not verify identity: Hyderabad’s LGBTQIA+ community opposes Transgender Amendment Bill

Hyderabad's LGBTQIA+ community opposes the Transgender Amendment Bill, stressing dignity over identity verification and highlighting economic and medical concerns.

“Transgender people do not come into existence because of the law. They exist in our society. The question before us is, does the law recognise their dignity or will it subject their identity to verification?” said Aarathi Selvan, founder of Pause for Perspective and a clinical psychologist, setting the tone for a press conference organised by members of the LGBTQIA+ community and activists at the Press Club in Hyderabad on Tuesday, March 17.

The gathering brought together transgender persons, genderqueer individuals, healthcare professionals and activists, all of whom voiced strong opposition to the proposed Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026. Speakers argued that the amendments mark a shift away from the principle of self-identification recognised by the Supreme Court in the 2014 NALSA judgment and risk reversing the limited gains achieved under the 2019 Act.

Under the proposed amendments, individuals may be required to obtain certification from district medical authorities, and in certain cases undergo medical procedures, to be legally recognised.

Economic barriers to medical transition also emerged as a key issue. Swetcha, a queer activist pointed out that testosterone injections can cost between ₹7,000 and ₹15,000, making them unaffordable for many, especially those in rural areas. “Linking legal recognition to medical transition would exclude large sections of the community who either cannot afford or do not wish to undergo such procedures,” they said.

Rachana, a transgender activist, traced the trajectory of legal protections from the Supreme Court’s directives to the 2019 Act, noting that despite recognition as a backward community, transgender persons have not been granted reservations or protection comparable to other marginalised groups. 

A.M.V. Monalisa, a transgender person, spoke about the lived experiences of discrimination and the long struggle for dignity. Recalling a time when many feared expressing their identities openly, she said that legal recognition and activism had brought change, but the proposed amendments risk undoing that progress.