The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2018
On Dec 17, 2018, the Lok Sabha passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016, with 27 amendments. The amended Bill, apart from an improved definition of the term transgender, is unacceptable and needs to be redrafted.
Ignoring the critiques of the 2016 Bill, and subsequent recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, the Bill passed on Dec 17 2018 with 27 amendments. It stands in stark violation of the fundamental rights of transgender persons enshrined in the Constitution as equal citizens, judgement of the Apex Court in NALSA vs UoI in 2014. It upholds criminalisation of trans people for organised begging, while denying any opportunities in education, employment, healthcare, etc. via reservation. It upholds lighter consequences and penalties for discrimination and assault on trans people compared to cisgender people. It violates the constitutional rights of transgender persons to live where we please, stating that even as adults with the right to free movement and association, we must either stay with our parents or approach a court.
Further, the amended Bill has created a two-tier system within the transgender community, wherein persons who have not had SRS can only identify as transgender, and that too, only after scrutiny and certification by a District Screening Committee, and those seeking to identify as male or female need to have had SRS. This is completely contrary to the NALSA verdict.
We note here that the concept of a District Screening Committee that seeks to validate the ‘authenticity’ of a transgender person’s identity is not only completely against the letter and spirit of NALSA, but also provides immense scope for abuse. It has been noted in Tamil Nadu that the district screening committees result in individuals being physically groped for “evidence” that they are transgender, a clear case of human rights violations.
The bill needs to be completely overhauled, made compliant with the NALSA verdict, and incorporate the community feedback given to the Standing Committee before it is presented again.
BILL AND AMENDMENTS
Full text of The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2018 [English, pdf]
Amendments made on the previous (2016) Bill [pdf]
Previous (2016) bill, Standing Committee Report, and critiques [link to Orinam page]
PROTESTS, PRESS CONFERENCES
The detailed calendar of protests and public events
[separate page]
Upcoming events
Not yet scheduled
PRESS RELEASES AND COMMUNITY CRITIQUES
- All India Coalition against the Transgender and Anti Trafficking Bill 2018
[pdf (English)] - Dalit Womens collective
[pdf (English)] - Peoples Union for Democratic Rights
[pdf (English)] - National Alliance of Peoples Movements
[pdf (English)] - Human Rights Forum (Telangana State and Andhra Pradesh)
[pdf (English)] - Human Rights Forum (Telangana State)
[pdf (Telugu)] - LABIA, Mumbai
[pdf (Hindi)] - LABIA, Mumbai
[pdf (English)] - Voices for Deliberative Democracy (A students collective)
[pdf (English)] - BAPSA statement: Redraft the Trans Bill and Trafficking of Persons Bill 2018
[pdf (English)] - Collective Statement against the Anti-LGBTQIA+ legislations in India (by students/individuals)
[pdf (English)] - Press release in Hindi
[pdf (Hindi)] - Memorandum to Chairperson, Rajya Sabha (also on anti-Trafficking bill)
[pdf (English)] - Press release, 21 Dec 2018, issued in Chennai (for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry)
[pdf (Tamil)] - Press release, 21 Dec 2018, issued in Chennai (for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry)
[pdf (English)] - Press release, 20 Dec 2018, issued from Coochbehar, Nadia & Murshidabad, West Bengal
[pdf (Bengali)] - Press release, 20 Dec 2018, issued from Coochbehar, Nadia & Murshidabad, West Bengal
[pdf (English)] - International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), 19 Dec 2018
[separate page] - Coalition for Sex Workers and Sexual Minorities Rights (CSMR), Karnataka, 18 Dec 2018
[pdf (English)] - Coalition for Sex Workers and Sexual Minorities Rights (CSMR), Karnataka, 18 Dec 2018
[pdf (Kannada)] - Community crowd-sourced press release, 18 Dec 2018, issued in New Delhi
[pdf] - Public statement by Lawyers Collective, 17 Dec 2018
[separate page]
MEDIA COVERAGE
Print media [separate page] Video [separate page]
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