The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill has sparked varied responses from leaders within the transgender community. While one individual praised it as a move to safeguard the original transgender individuals, another criticized the government for infringing on their self-identification rights. The Bill has successfully passed through both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha and is now awaiting approval from the President.
The country’s first transgender Shankaracharya, Hemangi Sakhi Ma, voiced her support for the Bill, emphasizing that it aims to protect the genuine transgender population. She reassured the community, stating that the government’s actions were intended for their safety and security. Hemangi Sakhi Ma highlighted the prevalence of individuals falsely claiming transgender identities and the challenges faced by authentic transgender persons in obtaining official recognition.
Conversely, transgender rights advocate Laxmi Narayan Tripathi expressed her discontent with the Bill, lamenting the perceived loss of rights for the transgender community. Tripathi criticized the government for neglecting crucial aspects such as employment, education, healthcare, and societal acceptance for transgender individuals. She condemned the Bill for what she viewed as a setback of two decades, questioning the government’s authority to dictate personal gender identities and raising concerns about the exclusion of various gender identities from the legislation.
Tripathi further alleged that the transgender community was neither consulted nor given the opportunity to provide consent regarding the Bill. She underscored the exclusion of transgender women, transgender men, non-binary individuals, and gender-fluid children from the legislation, asserting that their fundamental rights were being stripped away. Tripathi vowed to continue fighting for the restoration of these rights, emphasizing the community’s determination to uphold their constitutional entitlements.
