HaqSe: Transgender Laws In India, Here's An Explainer

We stand in 2023 and India's transgender community continues to face hurdles to accessing even the fundamental human necessities including health care, shelter, and food, among others. Lack of dignity and inequality adds up to the struggle. While multiple factors contribute to the challenges the transgender community faces in the country, one of the reasons is the unawareness among the community about their rights.

Pride Month is here and this month with HaqSe, a weekly series where we simplify your rights as a citizen of India with a legal expert. This time, we bring you a detailed explainer of the rights of the trangender community in India.

Transgender Persons (Protection Of Rights) Act, 2019

We spoke to Advocate Shikhani Shah Engineer, Criminal Lawyer, Bombay High Court, and asked her to share with us what the law states. She said, "The transgender persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 allows the transgender person to be recognised as such and allows to have a self-perceived gender identity. The provisions also look into the issuance of a certificate of identity and issue a certificate stating the gender change. A transgender person may make an application to the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity, indicating the gender as ‘transgender’. A revised certificate may be obtained only if the individual undergoes surgery to change their gender either as a male or a female."

Benefits For Transgenders Under The Act

The expert shared that under the act the Central Government is directed to provide the following rights to the transgender community:

The act prevents the discrimination of a transgender person, including denial of service or unfair treatment concerning access to healthcare, education, and shelter, among other necessities.

The act entitles every transgender person the right to reside and be included in his household. If the immediate family is unable to care for the transgender person, the person may be placed in a rehabilitation centre, on the orders of a competent court.

No government or private entity can discriminate against a transgender person on the professional front. Every establishment should have a designated person to be a complaint officer to deal with transgender complaints at the workplace.

The expert added, "Educational institutions funded or recognised by the relevant government shall provide inclusive education, sports, and recreational facilities for transgender persons, without discrimination."

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To ensure healthcare access to the trans community, the government offers separate HIV surveillance centres, and sex reassignment surgeries.

Violation Of Transgender Laws

The legal expert shared that the National Council for Transgender Persons addresses the grievances of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. “The violations of Part III rights of Transgender persons can be remedied by approaching the Supreme Court or High Courts under Articles 32 or 226. In addition, other rights guaranteed under various laws are protected by Article 226. Moreover, violation of rights to the ‘third gender’ constitutes human rights abuse. The State and National Human Right commissions can be approached by the victim,” the expert said.

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Filing A Complaint

If a member of a transgender community faces discrimination during employment, either in the public or private sector, they can approach the designated complaint officer set up under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019

A grievance can be filed with the National Transgender Council, by creating an account online on the National Transgender portal (https://transgender.dosje.gov.in/). On successful registration, click on the ‘Grievance tab’ and follow the guidelines.

The Domestic Violence Act also protects all women including Transgender Women (regardless of their certificate of identity) against any kind of abuse by any family member.

If you have any questions related to transgender laws and rights, write to us on our social media handles and we would have to get your queries answered by our legal expert.