Reject Bill 79, Transgender Persons Amendment bill

Yesterday in the Lok Sabha, a new amendment bill concerning Transgender Persons was introduced and it has raised quite an uproar and insecurity for many of us amongst the LGBTQ+ community.

I want to highlight this development as it is the single most largest radical attack on Transgender people that I have seen in the past 7 years that I have been part of the community.

Under the current legal framework in India, including the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020, transgender individuals can obtain a certificate of identity based on self-declared gender identity through an affidavit. Importantly, this process does not require medical or physical examination and reflects the principles established by the Supreme Court’s landmark NALSA judgment in 2014 which was based on Articles 14, 15, 16, 19(1)(a), and 21 of the Constitution of India.

The newly proposed amendment appears to narrow the legal definition of who can be recognized as transgender. Instead of recognizing identity based on self-identification, recognition may be limited primarily to certain traditional socio-cultural communities such as Hijra, Kinner, Aravani, Jogta, etc, intersex individuals, and people who were manipulated by such groups into undergoing “Gender affirmative treatment” and forced into becoming trans by these groups. That itself reinforces the negative stereotypes of transgender people and the bill is a spit in the mouth towards the Indian constitutional rights.

The bill is trying to redefine Transgender as something vastly different than modern science’s understanding about it (science which comes after 8th grade). (https://www.who.int/standards/classifications/frequently-asked-questions/gender-incongruence-and-transgender-health-in-the-icd, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34030966/,https://whatweknow.inequality.cornell.edu/topics/lgbt-equality/what-does-the-scholarly-research-say-about-the-well-being-of-transgender-people/ )

Over the past decade, the recognition of transgender rights has enabled many individuals like myself to pursue education, professional careers, and gave courage to simply exist in public, The current framework also includes provisions requiring companies to maintain non-discriminatory workplaces, implement equal opportunity policies, and ensure safe working environments for transgender employees.

If the legal definition of transgender changes to what the current bill proposes, there is concern that many individuals who currently rely on these protections maybe excluded from legal protections which allowed social progress and that trans folks will be mandated to de-transition legally similar to the Kansas state Law (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/kansas-revokes-1700-drivers-licenses-for-being-transgender/ar-AA1Ypyk3)

At present, this amendment is still a bill and not yet law.

We, as part of the LGBTQIA+ community, are planning for nationwide protests against this bill, I hope every Ally and come on to the streets. Trans people are just starting to get hope, education, getting into corporates, this bill reverses all of the progress that has been fought for.

How can you help:

• If you aren’t part of any organizations, look for LGBTQ+ organizations and activists and ask how you can help in this regard.
• spread awareness of this bill in the web to as many queer and trans people as possible
• take across the social media to voice out against the bill on twitter.
• Share the information to other subs, servers, groups or anything that might be able to help the cause of LGBTQ Rights in India.