JGLS Organizes National Consultation on Legal Framework for Rights of the Transgender People in India

The Centre for Health, Law, Ethics and Technology (CHLET) at the Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat (JGLS), organized a 2-day roundtable consultation called the “National Consultation on Human Rights of the Transgender People, Hijras and Other Gender Non-Normative Gender Groups in India” at the JGLS campus on November 9-10, 2013. The National Consultation was organized to deliberate on the legal and social barriers faced by the transgender, Hijra and non-normative gender groups in India..This discussion is pertinent in the light of the Expert Committee on transgender issues set up by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Supreme Court case on transgender rights. The committee has been set up with the view to conduct “an in-depth study of the problems being faced by transgender community and suggest suitable measures that can be taken up the Government to ameliorate their problems.”.Meanwhile, in the Writ Petition filed by the National Legal Services Authority in the case of NALSA v. UOI (W.P. (Civil) No. 400/2012) which argues for equal treatment of the transgender community (among other things), the Supreme Court has reserved judgment..Sunil Pant, the founder of the Blue Diamond Society (Nepal’s first L.G.B.T.I. organization), offered his experiences as the primary litigant in Nepal’s Supreme Court cases granting transgender recognition and rights. Pant provided a critical perspective on the process legal advocacy for the rights of gender non-conforming groups. The Supreme Court of Nepal created a new identity category called “Others.” As a result of this case, Nepal now has three categories, male, female and others. The Supreme Court has clarified that “Others” is an expansive category including female- to- male, male- to- female, Hijras and others. In Nepal, as a result of this case, people are free to choose which category they would like to identify with..Some of the participants expressed their hopes with respect to the upcoming Supreme Court judgment. Shutanuka, member of Sappho for Equality, Kolkata said “Trans has become synonymous to male to female persons. Female born trans persons are invisible. We need to talk about them and their rights.” One Hijra activist, Raveena, MITWA Chhattisgarh stated: “the decision should have a more inclusive and open definition of the “third gender”. All we wish from the judgment is justice.” Another Hijra activist, Rudrani Chettri said “We are hoping the final decision will be in the favor of the community and we get recognition along with entitlements and rights which are meaningful including education, health etc.”.On the question of whether only Hijras should be covered within the judgment or should more groups be accorded protection, Sohini, another activist said, “We surely need to include categories other than Male to Female. It’s not about doing good to half and leaving the half. On one hand we are sensitizing the binary of genders and bringing out diversity. We are trying to tell them different ways of articulating gender. Also, trying to inculcate the idea of respecting, tolerating, and protecting everyone rights. Having top down approach won’t help and therefore, the bottom down approach should be applied. Third fourth and many more categories would come. We need to respect diversity and individuality.”.The participants were unanimous in their view that transgender persons should not be made to submit any medical or legal proof to claim their identity as transgender persons and the choice of identity should be with them. This will be one of the recommendations to the Committee..Dipika Jain, Executive Director at CHLET said that there very few laws and policies for transgender and other non-normative gender groups. CHLET has filed Right to Information applications before all states and UTs in India on the welfare schemes, policies, laws and census of transgender, Hijras and other gender non-conforming groups. CHLET has only received twenty-two responses as of now. Nagaland was the only state providing a concrete number (13) accounting for the gender non-conforming persons living within the State. Rajasthan noted that they have a pension plan (established in 2013) that provides a pension to Hijras that can provide proof of (1) their Hijra identity and (2) earn less than 60,000 (INR) per year..This National Consultation was a collective effort to understand the needs and desires of transgender, Hijras, and other gender non-conforming groups so that the Committee’s recommendations reflect the community’s perspectives, diversity, ideas and experiences of this very heterogeneous group of people..Shreyas Gupta is a student at Jindal Global Law School.