March taken out to Lok Bhavan in protest against Bill on transgender persons

Transgender and intersex activists march to Lok Bhavan, protesting the regressive Transgender Persons Bill and demanding its withdrawal.

A large number of transgender, intersex, and gender diverse individuals took out a march to Lok Bhavan and burnt copies of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, here on Tuesday demanding withdrawal of the Bill.

The march from Martyrs’ Column at Palayam to Lok Bhavan was organised under the umbrella of the Queer-Trans-Intersex Rights Joint Action Committee Keralam to seek an apology from the Union government and the withdrawal of the Bill that was introduced in Parliament a few days ago.

The incensed protesters alleged that the Bill in the name of protection actually took away the right to gender self-determination that had been granted by the Supreme Court in 2014. The proposed amendment instead replaced it with medical scrutiny for recognising identity.

“Self-perceived identities have been removed from the definition of transgender in the Bill,” Prijith P.K., one of the protesters, said.

The new definition was a violation of human and constitutional rights, argued the transgender community, calling it a regressive step that went against the 2014 National Legal Services Authority judgment and the existing 2019 Act.

They pointed out that transmen, transwomen, and gender queer had been removed from the definition and those with socio-cultural identities such as kinner, hijra, aravani, and jogta or eunuchs included.