‘Trans rights being pushed back by a decade’: Community members oppose proposed transgender law changes

Activists warn proposed amendments to transgender laws in India could regress rights by a decade, undermining self-identification principles.

Proposed amendments to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 could push transgender rights in India back by nearly a decade by diluting the principle of gender self-identification as recognised by the Supreme Court in the landmark National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India, activists have warned.

The amendment, recently introduced in Parliament, proposes changes to how transgender identity is defined and recognised under the law. According to the proposal, recognition of transgender identity may require verification through official procedures, including possible medical scrutiny, before authorities issue a certificate of identity. Activists argue that this shift towards medical or administrative verification undermines the principle of self-determination laid down by the Supreme Court in the NALSA judgment.

Jayanth, founder of Queer Nilayam, said several groups have begun coordinating responses to the proposed changes: “This feels like we are being pushed back by a decade. These people are already going through a lot of trauma while exploring their identity. When something like this comes up, the question many people are asking is: where will they go?”

Students at the University of Hyderabad held a protest on March 14 condemning the proposed changes. They expressed concern that the creation of a government-appointed medical board to determine gender identity would amount to an invasion of privacy and could lead to increased policing of transgender bodies.

Patruni Sastry, a Hyderabad-based activist who identifies as non-binary, said the proposal has created anxiety within the community. “We never ask a cisgender man or a cisgender woman to get a medical certification to prove who they are. Trans identity is not only physical. It is psychological and based on lived experiences and community acceptance. Sastry also raised concerns about the preparedness of the medical system to handle such verification processes. He asked, “How many trans-friendly clinics are there in India?”

Activists have also raised concerns about the narrowing of the definition of transgender persons. Gayathri, a Hyderabad-based community member, said the proposed changes could make an already restrictive legal framework more exclusionary.