नवीनतम
Transgender Amendment Bill gets Prez's assent
NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: President Droupadi Murmu has given her assent to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, the Union Law Ministry said in a gazette notification.
Following the President’s assent on Monday, the Bill has now become an Act.
Around 140 lawyers and feminists had written to the President, urging her not to grant assent to the Bill, pointing out “constitutional violations” in its provisions and “procedural infirmities” in the way it was passed.
The Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 25, a day after the Lok Sabha cleared it. The Opposition had demanded that the Bill be sent to a select committee of the House for further scrutiny, as it had provisions that would have an impact on the dignity of transgender persons.
AAP leader Ruben Mascarenhas said India has now joined “the ignominious club of countries with some of the worst human rights abuses”.
“Sad that President Murmu has given her assent to the Transgender Persons Amendment Bill. The medieval legislation is now officially law. One of the most regressive legislations ever, India joins the ignominious club of countries with some of the worst human rights abuses,” he wrote on X.
One of the key concerns against the Act is the narrowed definition of transgender persons that excludes trans men, trans women, non-binary, and genderqueer individuals without medical diagnoses or socio-cultural identities.
It also provides for the removal of protections for self-perceived identity, contradicting constitutional guarantees.
Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar, countering the Opposition’s charges against the Bill, had said it was an effort to take along all segments of the society together.
He had said that the Bill would ensure protection to only those who face discrimination due to biological issues and added that transgender people will continue to get legal recognition and protection.
