Endorses changes to expand definition of transgender

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to amend the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, seeking to expand the definition of transgender, purportedly to make the law more “inclusive” so that all genuine persons get benefits and protection.There has been controversy over the implementation of the law, with community leaders raising concerns from time to time. Even the Supreme Court has expressed concern about the slow implementation of the law.While no official details of the proposed changes were released on Tuesday, TOI has learned that the bill proposes to clarify the definition of transgender compared to the current provisions. Officials said the bill proposes to spell out the identification criteria for transgender people in more detail and ensure that provisions are not abused.The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which came into effect on January 10, 2020, provides for legal recognition, prohibition of discrimination and mandatory welfare measures for transgender persons. The implementation details of this law were announced on September 25, 2020.Article 2 of the law deals with definitions and states that “transgender persons” include trans men/women, intersex persons, genderqueer individuals, hijras and others, whether or not they have undergone surgery.The law states: “‘Transgender’ refers to a person whose gender does not correspond to the sex assigned at birth, including transgender men or women (whether or not the person has undergone gender reassignment surgery or hormone treatment), intersex persons, genderqueer persons and persons with socio-cultural identities such as kinner, hijra, aravani and jogta.”