There's an outrage among the LGBTQI community after the Parliament passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill after a motion to refer it to a select committee of the Upper House was defeated. People from the community say that the bill does not address the concerns put forward and it will fail to end discrimination against the community.
The Lok Sabha had passed the bill on August 5.
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019, seeks to provide a mechanism for social, economic and educational empowerment of transgenders and was moved for consideration and passage in the Rajya Sabha by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot on November 20.
The clause related to medical examination by a panel for a district magistrate (DM) or collector to certify a person as a transgender which was earlier part of the bill, has been done away with, after reservations were expressed by members in this regard.
However, in case of a child, his or her parents can file application for issuance of an identification certificate.
Earlier, the Human Rights Watch had asked that the government to guarantee that the bill follow the momentous 2014 Supreme Court ruling on the rights of transgender people. The Supreme Court had recognised the transgender community as a third gender along with male and female in April 2014.
¡°Even though the bill says that a transgender person ¡°shall have a right to self-perceived gender identity,¡± its language could be interpreted to mean transgender people are required to have certain surgeries before legally changing their gender,¡± the human rights watchdog said.
BCCL
Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot elaborated the provisions of the bill highlighting the fact that the bill aims at eliminating discrimination against transgenders. The government will form a national council for its implementation after the legislation is brought into effect.
Gehlot said a transgender person will be able to avail the benefits of schemes offered by states as well as the Centre.
He asserted that the Supreme Court's direction in April 2014 regarding framing transgenders has also been kept in mind.
The bill has faced sturdy opposition from the LGBTQIA+ community. Activists pointed out that it is inapt to include the intersex community in the definition of transgenders, which the bill does, as not all intersex people identify themselves as trans-people. It weakens their rights.
Many people took to Twitter and called the Bill transphobic and a final nail in the coffin for LGBTQIA+ rights.
People pointed that passing the bill in Rajya Sabha is a mockery of democracy. The bill fails to protect the rights of the transgender community let alone empowering them. The penalty for rape is just six months to two years when it is life imprisonment for raping a woman.
Endangering their life is punishable by a maximum of two years in prison. The community has raised a concern that crimes committed against transgenders are considered as ¡°petty crimes¡±.