Transgender Bill Faces Opposition from Community

March

2026

India's Parliament has passed a controversial Bill that seeks to change how transgender people are legally recognized and infringes upon their right to self-identify. The Bill was passed amid protests by opposition parties and the LGBTQIA+ community. The union government says the changes will make welfare benefits more accessible and strengthen an existing law against exploitation and trafficking, but critics warn it could exclude many transgender, non-binary, and gender-fluid people. India is estimated to have around 2M transgender people, though activists say the true number is higher and legal recognition remains uneven. In 2014, Supreme Court of India (SCI) recognized transgender people as a 'third gender' and affirmed their right to self-identify. Despite legal protections, many transgender people in India continue to face discrimination and limited access to education, healthcare and formal employment, often relying on traditional or informal forms of work. In 2019, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act was enacted, aimed at addressing vulnerabilities faced by the community and had an inclusive definition of transgender persons. The new Bill—proposed as an amendment to the 2019 law—centers on how a transgender person is defined. It limits legal recognition to historically accepted socio-cultural groups such as hijra and kinner (intersex groups). This amendment removes legal recognition for those who self-identify as trans men, trans women, or gender non-binary people, and mandates medical certification for identity recognition. In fact, the SCI Advisory Committee had asked the union government to keep the transgenders' right to self-determination. Trans rights activist Akkai Padmashali said, ‘These politicians are making laws for us when they don’t even have basic concepts of gender, sex, and sexuality. This new Bill criminalizes us and disrespects our right to exist.' A recent editorial said, 'This controversial Bill raises more questions than it answers...It moves from a rights-based approach to a regulatory approach.' Panjab’s first transgender Lok Adalat (People's Court) jurist Mohini Mahant said, 'It seems that the government is forcing communities to go into hiding again...Why should the state decide our gender? ' Activists from Panjab plan to join activists from other states and file a Public Interest Litigation in the SCI, challenging the amendment.