The law recognises a person’s own sense of their gender. But it still asks for surgery, and a District Magistrate’s signature, before that recognition becomes official.
mcqquestion.com
Indian Society · IndSoc0058
Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019
From a landmark court ruling to a contested law, in five years
2014
The NALSA judgment
The Supreme Court recognises transgender persons as a legal “third gender,” for the first time.
Aug-Nov 2019
Parliament passes the Bill
The Lok Sabha passes it on 5 August; the Rajya Sabha follows on 26 November.
5 Dec 2019
Receives presidential assent
The Bill becomes law, amid vocal opposition from transgender rights groups.
10 Jan 2020
Act comes into force
Its rules, and the certificate-of-identity process, become operational nationwide.
One protection, two very different penalties
Sexual abuse against a transgender person carries up to 2 years’ imprisonment under this Act. The same offence against a cisgender woman carries a minimum of 7 years, up to life, under the IPC.
Must Know
- The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 was passed by the Lok Sabha on 5 August 2019, and by the Rajya Sabha on 26 November 2019. It received presidential assent on 5 December 2019, and came into force on 10 January 2020.
- It defines a transgender person as someone whose gender does not match the gender they were assigned at birth. This includes intersex people, hijras, jogtas, kinnars, trans-men, and trans-women.
- The Act grants every transgender person a right to self-perceived gender identity.
- To formalise this, a person can apply to the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity. No medical or physical examination is required for this certificate.
- To be legally recognised as male or female specifically, rather than as transgender, an applicant must undergo sex reassignment surgery and apply for a revised certificate.
Good to Know
- The Act prohibits discrimination against transgender persons in education, employment, healthcare, and access to public and private services.
- It recognises specific offences against transgender persons. These include forced or bonded labour, denial of access to public places, removal from one’s household or village, and physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, or economic abuse.
- Punishment for these offences ranges from six months to two years’ imprisonment, along with a fine.
- The Act establishes a National Council for Transgender Persons (NCT). The Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment chairs it.
- The Act built directly on the Supreme Court’s 2014 NALSA judgment, which first recognised transgender persons as a legal “third gender” with constitutional rights.
Test Yourself
Great to Know
- The Act’s punishment scale drew sharp criticism from transgender rights groups. Sexual abuse against a transgender person carries a maximum of two years’ imprisonment. The same offence against a cisgender woman carries a minimum sentence of seven years, up to life, under the IPC.
- An earlier 2014 draft bill had proposed a 2% reservation in education and government employment for transgender persons. The final 2019 Act dropped this reservation provision entirely.
- The surgery requirement for male/female legal recognition sits in real tension with the Act’s own self-perceived-identity principle. That principle applies fully to the transgender category itself, but not to a change toward male or female specifically.
- Activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi‘s advocacy work predates this Act, and helped shape the 2014 NALSA judgment it builds on. The SMILE Scheme‘s transgender welfare component also traces back to this same legal foundation.
Beyond the answer
Browse all indian-society topics →
📚 Keep reading
IndEco0312 — Gender Budgeting: Requirements and the Indian StatusIndSoc0054 — Laxmi Narayan TripathiPolity0351 — The Nature of Rights: Claims, Privileges and the Citizen-State RelationshipPolity0210 — Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016: From 7 Categories to 21UPSC CSP 2017 — General Studies Paper I (Full Question Paper)❓ Practice this topic
D0401 — Arrange these agreements in chronological order: 1. Framework Agreement 2. Mizo Accord 3. Bodo Accord 2020 4. Karbi Anglong AgreementD0400 — The Bodo Accord of January 2020 was signed with the ABSU and NDFB factions. What did it establish?D0399 — The Framework Agreement of August 2015 between the Government of India and NSCN(IM) is significant because it:D0398 — Mizoram became a full state of India in 1987. Which accord had ended the Mizo insurgency just before that?🎲 Take a Indian Society Quiz
Leave a Reply