What are the changes being proposed to Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 | Explained Premium

Explore proposed amendments to the Transgender Persons Act, 2019, and their impact on rights and community concerns.

The story so far: Twelve years after the Supreme Court of India recognised the transgender identity and laid down that “self-determination of gender is an integral part of personal autonomy and self-expression”, falling within the realm of personal liberty guaranteed by the Constitution of India, the Union government on Friday (March 13, 2026) introduced a Bill in Lok Sabha to take away transgender people’s “right to self-perceived gender identity”, and redefine a “transgender person” by proposing amendments to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Transgender community leaders, activists, and people across the country reacted to the amendments with shock, arguing that it went against the fundamental principle that their struggle for recognition had been for.

The key changes being proposed have to do with the definition of a “transgender person” and the expansion of the section on offences against transgender people and punishments for them.

In the amendment Bill, the Union government has called for the omission of sub-section (2) of Section 4 of the Act, which says, “A person recognised as transgender under sub-section (1) shall have a right to self-perceived gender identity.”

In addition to this, a new definition has been proposed for transgender people, which describes them as people “having such socio-cultural identities as kinner, hijra, aravani, and jogta, or eunuch”, people with intersex variations, and people who have “congenital variations” compared to the “male or female development” in their “primary sexual characteristics, external genitalia, chromosomal patterns, gondal development, endogenous hormone production or response or such other medical conditions”.

It goes on to say that any person or child who was “compelled to assume, adopt, or outwardly present a transgender identity, by mutilation, emasculation, castration, amputation, or any surgical, chemical, or hormonal procedure or otherwise” would also be included in this definition. However, it adds that this definition shall not include “persons with different sexual orientations and self-perceived sexual identities”.

Compared to this definition, the Act currently defines transgender people as someone “whose gender does not match with the gender assigned to that person at birth and includes trans-man or trans-woman (whether or not such person has undergone Sex Reassignment Surgery or hormone therapy or laser therapy or such other therapy), person with intersex variations, genderqueer and person having such socio-cultural identities as kinner, hijra, aravani and jogta.”