[Coming in the wake of a slew of progressive court judgments, the provisions of the new bill are seen as a setback in the struggle for gender rights. In 2014, the Supreme Court recognized the right of self-determination of gender identity to the trans community, acknowledging the need for affirmative action as well. Last year, the court decriminalized gay sex, overturning a 157-year-old colonial law.]
By Niha Masih
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Supporters and
transgender activists take part in a demonstration Wednesday
in Bangalore against the
Transgender Persons Bill 2019 that has been passed
by the Indian
Parliament. (Manjunath Kiran/AFP/Getty Images)
|
NEW
DELHI — Last week, as the
Indian Parliament passed a new bill for the protection of transgender people,
thousands of LGBTQ community members came out to protest in the latest battle
for gay and transgender rights in the country.
The bill prohibits discrimination and
criminalizes physical abuse against the transgender community but has been
summarily rejected by the very people it seeks to protect. After receiving the
president’s assent, the bill will become law.
“It is not just problematic but regressive,”
said Grace Banu, founder of the Trans Rights Now collective. “The community has
opposed it from the beginning.”
The activists’ demand was for comprehensive
anti-atrocities and anti-discrimination legislation that would be able to
uphold equal access to civil rights. But they say the new bill’s discrimination
clause is not clearly defined, which means the measure will have no teeth. It
also does not explicitly state common forms of discrimination in employment,
education and housing.
The penalty for sexual violence mentioned in
the bill is lower than for such crimes against women and does not define
specific physical sexual offenses that transgender people face, activists said.
Coming in the wake of a slew of progressive
court judgments, the provisions of the new bill are seen as a setback in the
struggle for gender rights. In 2014, the Supreme Court recognized the right of
self-determination of gender identity to the trans community, acknowledging the
need for affirmative action as well. Last year, the court decriminalized gay
sex, overturning a 157-year-old colonial law.
After criticism, the first iteration of the
bill introduced in 2016 was not passed, but activists say the needs of the
community still have not been reflected in the new bill. While there is no
accurate estimate of the number of transgender people in the country, the 2011
census put the population at nearly half a million.
The biggest cause for concern among community
members is that to get an identity certificate, they must apply to a local
government official.
“This is in contradiction of the right to
self-determination mandated by the court,” said Vihaan Vee, a 23-year-old who
identifies as a trans man.
Moreover, this identity certificate will only
identify people as transgender, not as male or female, unless the person has
undergone sex reassignment surgery and can provide proof. Vee said he wants to
be identified as a male, not transgender, but without surgery that is not
possible under the new bill.
“This is almost like forcing our bodies into
surgery,” he said.
For many like Vee, surgery is prohibitively
costly and difficult to access. The demand to make sex reassignment surgery
free or far less costly is not mentioned in the bill.
For Banu, the non-inclusion of affirmative
action for the transgender community, which exists in India in education and
government jobs for historically marginalized communities, marks an
institutional failure.
Another part of the bill being protested is a
clause that seemingly pushes trans people into residing with their biological
families or to be moved to rehabilitation homes. Vee, who ran away from home
two years ago, said the family home is often the first site of violence for
transgender people.
“Trans community has alternate family
structures where people stay together,” he said. “This is an attack on that.”
Several members of Parliament raised these
concerns before passage of the bill.
“A bill should be wholesome and
comprehensive. Why don’t you give six weeks at least, send it to Select
Committee and then you hear them out?” said Tiruchi Siva, a parliamentarian
from a regional party.
The struggle that led to the bill is not
over.
“This is the first time our gender identity
would have been recognized,” Vee said. “But instead of making things better, it
will do us more harm.”
Activists say they are gearing up to mount a
legal challenge to the bill.
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