Transgenders want to identify their own gender but law now says they need a certificate

• The upper house of the Parliament today passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019.
  
• The bill defines trangender as a person whose gender is not the one assigned at the time of birth.
  
• It seeks a ‘certificate of identity’ that labels their gender as “transgender.”
  
• The bill was introduced in the lower house of the parliament on July 19 and was passed in August 2019.

The upper house of the Parliament today passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019. The bill was tabled in Rajya Sabha on November 20, after which several members demanded to move the matter to a select parliamentary committee.

The bill was introduced in the lower house of the Parliament on July 19 and was passed in August 2019.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019, which claims to protect the rights of transgenders and empower them has also been widely opposed by trans community. The LGBTQ community has been opposing the proposed legislation saying that the bill is violating individual rights.

The bill defines trangender as a person whose gender is not the one assigned at the time of birth. It seeks a ‘certificate of identity’ that labels their gender as “transgender”. And if someone from the community seeks to change their gender to male of female, the administrative officer will check for the ‘correctness’ of the revised medical certificate.

The bill, which includes trans-men and trans-women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queers, and persons with socio-cultural identities is in contrast with the Supreme Court’s judgement that granted protection rights to transgendered people — including self determination of gender and no mandatory medical certificate.

Forced labour, any denial from use of public places, physical, sexual or emotional abuse have been listed as an offence under the proposed bill. If challenged, the penalties include imprisonment of six months to two years, along with fine.

The bill says that transgenders should not be discriminated against in terms of employment opportunities. However, it does not include reservations for the community either. India has nearly 5%-10% queer employees in the workforce. Of this, over half of them reported discrimination at work.

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