Indian Supreme Court Recognises Transgender People As Third Gender
By Countercurrents
15 April, 2014
Countercurrents.org
In a landmark ruling, Supreme Court of India recognised transgender people as a third gender. "It is the right of every human being to choose their gender," it said in granting rights to those who identify themselves as neither male nor female. The court ordered the government to provide transgender people with quotas in jobs and education in line with other minorities, as well as key amenities. The court clarified that its verdict pertains only to eunuchs and not other sections of society like gay, lesbian and bisexuals who are also considered under the umbrella term 'transgender'.
"Recognition of transgenders as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue," Justice KS Radhakrishnan, who headed the two-judge Supreme Court bench, said in his ruling on Tuesday.
"Transgenders are also citizens of India" and they must be "provided equal opportunity to grow", the court said.
"The spirit of the Constitution is to provide equal opportunity to every citizen to grow and attain their potential, irrespective of caste, religion or gender."
The judges asked the government to treat them in line with other minorities officially categorised as "socially and economically backward", to enable them to get quotas in jobs and education.
"We are quite thrilled by the judgement," Anita Shenoy, lawyer for the petitioner National Legal Services Authority (Nalsa), told the BBC.
"The court order gives legal sanctity to the third gender. The judges said the government must make sure that they have access to medical care and other facilities like separate wards in hospitals and separate toilets," she said.
But India is not the first country to recognise a third gender. Nepal recognised a third gender as early as in 2007 when the Supreme Court ordered the government to scrap all laws that discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. And last year, Bangladesh also recognised a third gender.
India has about two million transgender people.
The Supreme court also said states and the Centre should devise social welfare schemes for third gender community and run a public awareness campaign to erase social stigma.
The court said the states must construct special public toilets and departments to look into their special medical issues.
The court also added that if a person surgically changes his/her sex, then he or she is entitled to her changed sex and can not be discriminated.
The court expressed concern over transgenders being harasssed and discriminated in the society and passed a slew of directions for their social welfare.
The court said that trangenders were respected earlier in the society but situation has changed and they now face discrimination and harassment.
It said that section 377 of IPC is being misused by police and other authorities against them and their social and economic condition is far from satisfactory.
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