New bill marks a regressive turn in transgender rights

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, introduced in the Lok Sabha, proposes to limit the definition of transgender person, undoing years of activism, judicial pronouncements, and legislative action.

- Shireen Yachu and Jwalika Balaji

The problem lies in the suspicion of self-perceived gender identity. In NALSA v Union of India, the Supreme Court protected gender identity under Article 21 of the Constitution (dignity and autonomy): It held that “gender identity refers to each person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth. It refers to an individual's self-identification as a man, woman, transgender or other identified category”. The Bill unsettles this foundation.

What is self-perceived identity? Self-identification is an individual's sense of their own gender. Gender is the way of being, and it determines how one feels, dresses, socialises, or behaves. Gender identity emerges at the interplay of one’s understanding of self and societal recognition. If one’s biological sex aligns with their gender identity, societal expectations, roles, and responsibilities seemingly align with the person's self-presentation. The issue arises when the sex and gender are not in alignment. This is where the need to affirm an identity for oneself becomes central. Self-determination is a tool to reclaim space that society fails to offer.