Community fighting for ‘identity’

NP NEWS 24 ONLINE: TANUSHREE PODDAR:    The transgender community is unbelievably diverse. Some transgender people identify as male or female, and some identify as genderqueer, nonbinary, agender, or somewhere else on or outside of the spectrum of what we understand gender to be. Some of us take hormones and have surgery as part of our transition, and some don’t. Some choose to openly identify as transgender, while others simply identify as men or women.

While the visibility of transgender people is increasing in popular culture and daily life, the community still faces severe discrimination, stigma and systemic inequality.

Sadly, the community faces major issues about lack of legal protection, poverty, Harassment, stigma, anti-transgender violence, healthcare and most importantly, Identity.

In 2014, the community prefers a private member’s bill that was introduced in the Upper House of parliament by Tiruchi Siva, a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam lawmaker. The bill ensured rights and welfare measures for transgender persons. By 2015, the bill was passed in the Upper House which remained pending in the Lower House.

Later, the Bharatiya Janata Party government introduced the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 in the Lower House. After controversy and protests by the transgender community, the bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment.

After amendments, the Bill was called as the Transgender Persons Bill, 2018, in the Lower House. But it had no significant amendment other than a more acceptable definition of ‘transgender’.

Earlier, in 2016, transgenders were termed as “partly female or male; or a combination of female and male; or neither female nor male”. After it drew flak for a wrong definition, it was later changed to: “a person 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, gender queer and person having such socio-cultural identities as Kinner, Hijra, Aravani and Jogta.”

The Tiruchi Siva bill not only prioritized an individual’s right to self-determination of gender identity but also had provisions of reservation and social welfare schemes for upliftment of the transgender community.

The 2018 bill does not even mention reservation or any concrete affirmative action. However, the apex court had directed the government to treat transgenders “as socially and educationally backward classes of citizens” and extend reservation in educational institutions and public appointments.

Transgenders are also not convinced by the proposed National Council for Transgender Persons, which is expected to oversee the implementation of different provisions of the bill and further policy-making. They pointed out that there are around 30 members in the proposed council with only five from the trans community, the most being government officials. Recently, the bill was sent to a standing committee and the government has accepted its 27 amendments.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• A transgender person must get a certificate of identity as proof of recognition of identity as a transgender person and to invoke rights under the Bill.

• The Bill prohibits discrimination against a transgender person in areas such as education, employment, and healthcare. It directs the central and state governments to offer welfare schemes in these areas.

• Offences like compelling a transgender person to beg, denial of access to a public place, physical and sexual abuse, etc. would attract up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine.