ILSJCCL

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE RECENT TRANSGENDER PERSONS (PROTECTION OF RIGHTS) BILL, 2019: AKANSHA ANAND

Your Admin

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE RECENT TRANSGENDER PERSONS (PROTECTION OF RIGHTS) BILL, 2019

Author: Akansha Anand 

Fairfield Institute of Management & technology.

ISSN: 2581-8465

ABSTRACT-

The sole purpose of welfare legislation of any country should be to protect its citizens without having any discrimination among its citizens on the basis of gender, race, religion, etc. Hence, it should be the duty of the legislature to protect the right of every transgender of this society. But in actual condition, there is a very grave threat to their lives and they are also disallowed for occupying any social or political spares. History has also betrayed them because of their appearance, in other words, transgender has not accepted by society. The majoritarian forces killing, raping and stripping them naked, their identities and bodies manipulated to the extent that the word violation would be short. Therefore, the need of having separate laws regarding transgender becomes necessary and only be corrected through an active effort of the state to stop it, thus transgender protection of the bill was passed by the parliament of India. From 2014 a watershed moment has started and by the NALSA judgment, the series of the bill has passed to uphold the recognition of the identity of the third gender.

INTRODUCTION-

According to the 2011 census more than 4.80 lakhs transgender has been calculated in the population of India. The law had recognized only two genders, namely men and women in criminal as well as in civil laws, by the passage of time, many changes have happened. In 2014 major impetus to transgender rights were given by the judgment of the case NALSA vs. Union of India the Supreme Court Of India recognize the third gender that is transgender. Then, in the case Navtej Singh Johar vs. Union of India, the landmark judgment was given by the Supreme Court of India- they decriminalize a part of Section 377 of Indian Penal Code and barred even consensual homosexual sex between adults.

The Supreme Court of India introduces the doctrine of progressive realization of rights which means the law should be modern ethics, sensible and easy to apply and the state has obligation to take appropriate measures for the progressive realization to social, economic and cultural rights. The doctrine of progressive realization gives birth to the doctrine of non-retrogression which states that the state should take necessary steps to lead retrogression to the enjoyment of rights by each and every citizen of any gender. And the following judgment also led the government to pass and bring the bill for the protection and development of the LGBTQ community.

THE TANSGENDER (PROTECTION OF RIGHTS) BILL, 2019-

The Transgender (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 came after the series of many bills and with alteration in it. At last, the legislature after too many attempts came up with an appropriate bill which covers all the aspect of the rights of transgender people but as well as many loopholes. In the bills of 2016, 2018 there was lack if inconsistency which led to the protest by LGBTQ community and this results in the birth of the bill of 2019, however, the transgender bill 2019 also does not cover all the aspects of the judgment of NALSA vs. Union of India but it has stopped the protest by the citizens of the country.

The transgender bill, 2019 was passed by the Lok sabha on the 19th of July 2019 but now Rajyasabha also passed it and now the bill is waiting for the President confirmation, after that it will become an act. The bill defines transgender people as follows- “Transgender people have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from their assigned sex. Some transgender people who desire medical assistance to transition from one sex to another identify as transsexual.’’ Hence this bill that is the transgender people bill, 2019 gives preciously definition of the transgender people and also highlights many other laws that give the transgender a respectful life and liberty, freedom to their lives.

In other words, the bill defines a transgender person as one whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth.  It includes trans-men and trans-women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queers, and persons with socio-cultural identities, such as kinnar and hijra.  Intersex variations is defined to mean a person who at birth shows the variation in his or her primary sexual characteristics, external genitalia, chromosomes, or hormones from the normative standard of the male or female body.

The 2018 bill passed by the LokSabha was widely criticized by transgender persons, activists, students, and lawyers. Transgender persons protested in various cities in India calling the provisions regressive and in violation of the Supreme Court judgment in 2014. The criminalization of begging under the 2018 bill was to affect transgender persons in India, such as hijras and jogtas who engage in begging as a ritual-custom while some rely on it for livelihood. The provision of the District Screening Committee had also left gaps for incompetence and prejudice and was supposedly done to filter out imposters from seeking benefits of government welfare schemes. The definition of transgender persons under the 2018 bill, retained by the 2019 act, was also reported to be at variance with international expert understanding of the term.

The bills have been met with protests by transgender persons. Their passing by the LokSabha has been referred to some transgender persons as “black day” and “gender justice murder day”. Yet others have described the 2018 bill as “draconian and discriminatory”.Protestors alleged the 2018 bill to be institutionalizing violence and claimed neglect of recommendations made by the Standing Committee and transgender persons.

Following are the features of the Transgender People Bill, 2019. They are-

REMAINING BOTTLENECKS IN THE TRANSGENDER BILL,2019-

CONCLUSION-

The transgender people bill, 2019 has come by a lot of discussion in the society as well as The Parliament, a lot of revisions, amendment took place. The legislature has done its best according to the orders by The Supreme Court of India. However, the bill still left more questions unanswered and unsolved than the concern it aims to address, and the bill may not be very helpful for the transgender community and the bill is also required to reconsider because of its shortcomings.

There are many more lacunae in the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2019, which were not addressed by the RajyaSabha in their haste. In the days leading up to its passage, many from the community also took to the streets and social media, asking the

RajyaSabha to slow down and reconsider by referring the Bill to a select committee, but it seems their cries have gone in vain.

Since the Bill was passed, the transgender community and their allies in cities like Bengaluru, Delhi, and Pune have erupted in protest, urging President Ram NathKovind not to give his assent, which if he does, will turn the Bill into an enforceable Act – something that spells despair for most of the transgender community.

REFERENCES-

Exit mobile version