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org © 2020 IJCRT | Volume 8, Issue 11 November 2020 | ISSN: 2320-2882

Transgender Rights in India

Nitika
M.A Political Science
Lovely Professional University
Dr. Javeed Ahmad Bhat
Department of Political Science
Lovely Professional University

Abstract
Sexuality is a major issue in INDIA. Sexuality has been listed as unnatural.
Therefore, transgender life is full of struggles. They experience a lot of problems in
their life. They are facing discrimination in every aspect of life. These people are at
risk because they have lack of health facilities, employment and education facilities.
Social stigma is another major issue that forces them to take unwanted decision i.e.
attempting suicide. These factors affect their mental health and they are more likely
to get depression and anxiety attacks too. My article is focused on transgender
struggle, their rights and their present situation in India.
Keywords: Transgender, Rights, Struggle, India.
Introduction
When we are talking about transgender, the first thing that comes into our mind is a
different category. Their behavior, liking and inner feelings are opposite from the
sex assigned at birth. They usually wear Saree. Some people consider them as
“sacred”. They are called by different local names such as “Hijra”, “Aravani”,
“kinnar” depends on area. In the year of 2005, Indian Passport application forms
added a third category “E (Eunuch)”. In Nov. 2009, India agreed to differentiate
them as others different from males and females in voting identity cards and voting
rights. Indian government has taken many steps to recognize them as equal citizens.
Supreme Court also recognized the third gender as neither female nor male. Being a
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transgender is not easy their own parents, society, culture doesn’t accept them. So
in this article I tried to understand their rights I really want to bring the change in
the society. I am writing this article and just hoping that someone somewhere will
read this piece of information and it might change their mindset towards
transgender or any transgender reading this article might become aware of their
rights and responsibilities. Transgender people are struggling in current times even
in the 20th century where everyone thinks that they are living in open minded
society. But reality is often different from what we see around the world. We can
see social media awareness everywhere but how many of us are actually able to
experience it in real life that transgender are living freely? Some of us or No one,
right? You know the problem lies within us - in our mindset. I have seen a carry
minati’s video recently on YouTube roasting tiktokers on the bases of gender
calling them “meetha” and the worst part was that video became the most liked non
music video and was breaking records. I have seen many people around me making
fun of people and calling them “chhake”. I am writing this on behalf of my personal
experience and what I have observed around me. I have read many articles talking
about constitutional rights, about many NGO working for the well being of
transgender, about transgender community leader constantly motivating others and
many online platforms which are working for uplifting the transgender community
but discrimination is not yet removed fully. They are facing physical assault, sexual
violence, mental torture, abuse, employment discrimination, economic insecurity,
homelessness and many other serious problems at every turn of their life. Even
police don’t help them they usually mock the complainants. They rarely register any
complain and in case they do, they are not going to take that complain seriously so
many transgender choose not to report the crimes. This is where the humanity dies
and we fail as human beings. This study revolves around the struggle of transgender
life and tries to find out practical solutions.

Objectives
1) To know the term “Transgender”
2) To know the Constitutional rights of transgender in India.
3) To understand the current situation of transgender.

Research Methodology
My article is purely based on Secondary data. Data was collected from reading
research articles, books, newspapers, journals, 2011 census data and govt. reports.

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Steps taken by government and constitutional rights are also included in this paper.
After reading and collecting Data, it was summarized and analyzed.

Transgender Population in India

We do not have exact data available because some people hide their gender identity
due to social stigmas and the fear of being harassed. In 2011, census data was
collected and according to that there are 4.88 Lakh transgender in India. (India at
Glance - Population Census 2011, 2011)

Transgender in Ancient India

Importance of transgender people can be traced back from the ancient India. They
were presented in Mahabharata and Ramayana. They were given extremely
important roles in Mughal emperor. Their situation got worst in the year of 1860
when British rule introduced section 377 of Indian penal code and started treating
them as criminals. They have always been in Hindu methodology stories.
According to these stories, Arjuna had a transgender form. A very beautiful fairy
named Urvashi was attracted to him and wanted to marry him but he refused to
marry her. Then Urvashi cursed him to become a transgender. The appearance of
Lord Shiva as “Ardhnaari” –which is half male or half female is also accepted by
millions of devotees. There is one more interesting story of Ramayana while going
for “Vanvaas”, Lord Rama asked all men and women to return back , these
transgender kept on standing for 14 years and when lord Rama asked the reason
they replied as he only mentioned men and women in his speech. They had not
returned because they are neither men nor women. Lord Rama was highly
impressed by them and gave boon to bless people. That’s why this tradition of
having Hijras on auspicious occasions such as child birth and wedding started.
(Hsu, August 2015)

The term “Transgender”

Transgender people are those whose characteristics do not fall under stereotypical
gender norms. These people are born with male or female like genitals but they feel
different from their body structure. They feel different from then sex which is
assigned at birth. Their appearance, behavior, identity and expressions are different
from gender norms. In most of the area in India they are known as “Hijra”. Aravani
is the famous local term for transgender in Tamil Nadu. Shiv-Shaktis are also
transgenders community in Andhra Pradesh. Jogtas is the term famous in
Maharashtra and Karnataka.

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Rights of Transgender
I am going to talk about the rights of transgender granted under Indian law. Every
person must be aware of his rights and responsibilities for better confident life.
Human Rights
As the name suggest human rights are basically given to all the human beings
regardless of any Sex, caste, race, religion, ethnicity, language etc. Human rights
include right to equality, freedom, liberty, life, education, expression and more. It
also gives protection from torture, slavery and discrimination. (United Nations)
Rule of law
We all know that Rule of law is supreme which states that every individual is equal
before law. Rule of law secures our right of equality.
Article14
Indian constitution gives us right of equality in Article 14. Everyone can enjoy the
right of equality and can’t be discriminated on the basis of color, caste, religion or
sex (Indian kanoon)
Article15
Indian constitution protects everyone from any kind of discrimination against sex,
caste and religion. Anyone can approach to court in case they are facing any kind of
discrimination.
Article16
Article 16 gives us the equality of opportunity. No citizen shall be discriminated in
employment opportunities on the ground of religion, race, caste, sex.
Transgender have all the right of equality same as the common people. Article 14,
15, 16 and 21 supports and secures their rights.
Article21
Article 21 of Indian constitution gives us protection and liberty.
Article23
Article 23 prohibits human trafficking and gives them freedom.
Rights of transgender Persons act, 2014
This bill gives many rights to transgender to ensure their equality and respect in
society. No one can be deprived from the basic personal liberty on the ground of
being transgender.
In 2014, government legally recognized “third gender” and guarantees equal
education rights, no discrimination in employment, social security and health rights
for their fullest development. ( TRANSGENDER PERSONS BILL, 2014 )
The court has also issued directives for state and central government to protect their
fundamental rights.
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Rights of transgender person bill, 2015

This bill talks about the ‘identification of transgender persons’. Transgender person
holds freedom to choose their own gender option. Transgender people come under
SC/ST category and can enjoy reservation facilities for backward classes.
(TRANSGENDER PERSONS BILL, 2015)
In 2016, the government introduced the transgender bill (Protection of rights).
Section 377
Section 377 was unconstitutional in nature, it criminalize consensual same sex
relations. It was colonial era law which started recognizing transgender as
criminals. In 2018, the supreme court of India abandoned section 377 and
decriminalized homosexuality. This decision was the biggest victory in LGBTQ
lives. (THE FIGHT TO DECRIMINALIZE HOMOSEXUALITY SINCE THE
REPEAL OF SECTION 377)

Present situation of transgender

We have talked about the constitutional rights of transgender but the actual
questions are “Are they actually able to enjoy their rights fully?”, “What is the
present situation of transgender in India?” So we know that the court legally
recognized the “Third gender” and provide them equal rights. Besides all these
constitutional rights, they are still feeling ignored in the society. In present times
their community in the society is still being unacceptable mostly. They are ignored
in social and cultural participation and they have restricted access to education,
health care, employment and other public services. People laugh on their different
gender identity and make them feel unnatural. Their life is a battle, everyday they
have new challenges standing on their doors. Instead of understanding their gender,
everyone including their own family and friends forced them to behave according to
the sex which assigned at the time of birth. Situation is not yet good because many
health problems are faced by transgender people. Because of limited employment
opportunities, these people are involved in sex work and risk their own life. They
are more likely to get HIV and at high risk. Mental health, depression, harassment,
mental and physical torture and violence are also very common in present times.
They are facing a lot of challenges every day. An act, Protection of Rights of
Transgender Persons was passed last year amid criticism and protests by activists.
The community has said that government is ignoring their requests. Mumbai based
Trans activist has claimed that Section 18 is contradictory itself where the
punishment for rape is seven years but the punishment for sexual harassment
against transgender is maximum of two years. They said when rules are not perfect

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how we can assume these rules will change our situation. They are still fighting for
their self identification. According to the act passed in 2019, they need to visit DM
in order to be certified and DM can reject the application. Before this act they can
simply file the application declaring their own identity but now the process has
become complex and lengthier for them. Their main agenda is to let them be self
identified and mandate this certificate only when they want to avail the government
welfare benefits. Some of them are economically strong and they don’t need the
benefits. What they need is respect, love and their own identity.

Conclusion: Now the situation is changing because of the social media and
awareness facilities. Transgender people are finding other people online belonging
to the same gender and their unity is becoming their strength. They are now aware
of their rights and responsibilities. Every individual should respect them as they are
also human beings and we should treat them equal as our fellow citizens. State and
central government should implement the laws strictly and give serious punishment
to those who violates their rights. There should be more awareness program and
campaigns for their community. They should be welcomed in the society, health
care, educational institutes and everywhere. We should together work to end the
discrimination, to uplift them and to create safe environment for them. People
should understand their feelings “this is not a problem, this is only a gender- a third
gender”. Third gender is different from male and female and this surely does not
make them any less from human being. We need to remove this stereotype social
stigma and give them chance to stand together. Let’s make our India happy by
spreading love and care among all.

References and Bibliography

TRANSGENDER PERSONS BILL, 2014 . (n.d.). Retrieved from THE RIGHTS OF TRANSGENDER PERSONS BILL,
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(2011). Retrieved from India at Glance - Population Census 2011: https://www.census2011.co.in/p/glance.php

Hsu, G. A. (August 2015). Govindasamy Agoramoorthy and Minna J. Hsu. Journal of Religion and Health, Vol. 54, 3-4.

Indian kanoon. (n.d.). Retrieved from Indiankanoon.org: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/367586/

johari, A. (2014). fcroll.in. Retrieved from Hijra, kothi, aravani: a quick guide to transgender terminology:
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SujitaSethi, & MadhusmitaBarwa. (2018). Transgender Health and Their Rights in India. International Journal of
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THE FIGHT TO DECRIMINALIZE HOMOSEXUALITY SINCE THE REPEAL OF SECTION 377. (n.d.). Retrieved from
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section-377

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TRANSGENDER PERSONS BILL, 2015. (n.d.). Retrieved from THE RIGHTS OF TRANSGENDER PERSONS BILL,
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United Nations. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/human-rights/

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