Get Inspired, Be Empowered Forums LGBTQ Issues & Rights Laws on transgender are really helping them? Reply To: Laws on transgender are really helping them?

Manpreet Singh
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In 2019 transgender rights bill was passed last, but is a new law beneficial for them? The critiques have termed this new law inadequate and discriminatory on many terms. Trans activists groups have critiqued several trans rights bills since the first one was passed in 2016. The lawmakers failed to consider the main concerns that have been raised for many years. The result is that the new law will violate the rights of equality of trans people rather than respecting them and uplifting the long-persecuted communities.
The major flaw in the new law is the procedure that is mandated for legal gender recognition. It is a process by which trans people can declare their identity to be reflected in the documents. One of the steps requires the person to provide proof of surgery, issued by a hospital official, to the District Magistrate for a second evaluation, and the official must be satisfied with the correctness of such certificate. This gives arbitrary power to that government officer. It also forces people into medical procedures that are against their will and hence the violation of a fundamental right.
The Supreme court has held that trans people deserve the government’s recognition on their terms, without any intervention or discrimination. In 2014, Supreme Court in NALSA v. India ruled that transgender people should be recognized as a third gender so that they may enjoy all fundamental rights and specific benefits in education and employment. The bench ordered that Transgender persons have a right to decide their gender and this should be recognized by state and federal authorities. It has been made clear that any insistence on sex reassignment surgery is immoral and illegal.
In simple words, the process for recognition and control over one’s own body should not include any medical interventions. But if an individual’s identity or transition process requires medical support, those services should be available and accessible and without any discrimination.