Rights & wrongs

Rights & wrongs

Context

Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill

Author’s contention

Author states that the news that Centre has brushed aside a parliamentary standing committee’s report and plans to introduce the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill without changes is a disappointment

SC’s landmark order

The process of recognising the rights of the community and seeking to protect it by legislation gained momentum in 2014, when the Supreme Court gave a landmark verdict in the NALSA case

• The court recognised the community as a third gender entitled to the same rights and constitutional protection as other citizens
• It called for an end to discrimination based on gender against those who do not conform to the gender assigned to them at birth
• The court also ruled that transgender persons had a positive right to make decisions about themselves, express themselves and participate in community life
• SC directed the government to accord them ‘socially and educationally backward’ status so they could benefit from affirmative action

Bill is brought up

• In 2014, a private member’s Bill moved by DMK MP Tiruchi N. Siva was passed in the Rajya Sabha. In the Lok Sabha, the government introduced its own Bill, which was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment.

Committee’s views

The Standing Committee, in its July 2017 report, suggested some modifications and additions to the draft

• Disagreement over definition of transgender: In particular, it disagreed with the definition of ‘transgender’ in the draft Bill and wanted modifications to bring it in line with global norms. The Committee felt that the definition violated the principle that transgender persons have a right to self-identification of their gender

Issues with the Bill

• Activists and experts have pointed to the absence of any reference to the implications of criminal and civil laws that are based on the traditional gender binary i.e. male & female
• Benefit of reservation should be extended to transgender category

Conclusion

In the domain of legislation, disagreements over drafts are natural. It is up to the government of the day to adopt an inclusive approach towards divergent opinions and come up with the best law possible. Ignoring the opinions of experts and parliamentary committees does not help the process. The Centre should revisit its draft and incorporate the inputs of the standing committee and an expert panel that submitted a report in 2014.

Read More: Transgender Bill issue has also been covered here