India’s transgender bill is misguided

topic:	Humans
located:	India
editor:	Tish Sanghera

Hijra, Kinnar, Aravani and Jogappa are just some of the names given to those who are part of the transgender population in India. They are at once revered, considered blessed and given a semi-divine status, but are also among the most disadvantaged groups in society.

It is groups like these that the government says it aims to “uplift”, both socially and economically, with the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, cleared this week by the Union Cabinet.

Activists however say the bill contains several disturbing details that could leave the marginalised group more vulnerable and open to abuse than it already is. They also maintain that policymakers have ignored the community’s advice shared in consultations and meetings over the past months.

So, why exactly is the bill problematic? The main bone of contention revolves around the certificates of identification that all transgender people are required to have, in order to be officially recognised. Current proposals want district screening committees to assign a gender to each trans applicant when providing these certificates. However, this violates the right to self-identification laid down by the Supreme Court, which many believe will cause significant mental and psychological distress.

Activists also say their request for reservation in jobs and higher education institutions have been ignored, despite such interventions acting as a key tool for social mobility. By criminalising begging too and setting up to a two-year jail term as the punishment, the government has also cut off the main source of income for a group often discriminated against in the job market.

The bill has also failed to address a clear violation of equality with regards to the protection of transpersons. Indian law currently punishes the rape of a woman with ten years in prison, but someone who rapes a trans-woman receives a prison sentence of between 6 months to two years.

So what has the bill done to improve the livelihoods of the community? The bill takes a strong stance against outlawing any form of discrimination in labour, education or housing for example, but then activists say there lacks clarity on how this will actually be tackled. So far there is little recognition of abuses by law enforcement and a lack of interest in protecting transgender people.

The move to create greater protections for transpersons has been warmly received, but the bill’s contents currently reveal a serious lack of understanding of the community’s needs. Policymakers must therefore work with activist groups and community leaders collaboratively to iron out the bill’s problem areas.

Last year’s abolishment of Section 377 – a colonial era law criminalising homosexuality – was a truly progressive step that corrected a historical wrong. The government could now build on this momentum and show their commitment to true reform.

Image: BMW Guggenheim Lab, flickr