'Existential threat': Transgender community unites against Bill

NEW DELHI: Kabir Maan identifies as a transman. On Monday, at a packed press conference, anxious and worried, he held up his Transgender ID and certificate — issued as per the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 — to share how the proposed amendments to the law will make it difficult for his community to get these documents.

His worry — the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, omitting a clause that allowed “self perceived gender identity” to be the basis for determination and obtaining a TG certificate. The changes in definition, Maan said, poses exclusion of many.




“The first question that came to my mind, after hearing about the amendment bill, was what will happen to my future and will my identity be questioned after all the struggle I went through to acquire the TG certificate. How can a medical board decide my gender identity?” he said.

Now, the proposed amendments feel like a blow as they only add to fear, anxiety and uncertainty that the community struggles with, Maan said, sharing that despite these identity documents and him being a qualified special educator, he continues to struggle and fight stigma.

Maan was joined by many others in demanding the withdrawal of the bill introduced in Lok Sabha last week. Community members argued that the proposed amendments violate Supreme Court’s landmark 2014 judgement (NALSA versus Union of India) that protects the right to self-determination of gender identity.

With Parliament in session, the community will now be stepping up outreach to MPs across parties to demand support for seeking the bill’s withdrawal. It also questioned the lack of consultation by the govt before bringing the amendment bill.

Raghavi S, a transwoman and an SC lawyer, said, “We are very clear we want this bill to be taken back as it is.” “After years of struggle to gain recognition and access, the proposed amendments would push transgender persons back into a system where they will be denied their rights,” she added.

“The bill does not merely amend a statute, it lays down an existential threat to our hard-won dignity, reinstates colonial-era stigma, and turns the State against the very people it was solemnly pledged to protect,” the community said in a statement. “Hence we, the concerned transgender and queer individuals and collectives, unequivocally condemn and oppose the bill,” it said.

The statement claimed under the current framework, the recognition of transgender identity is built on five key principles — “self-identification, a simple administrative process, no compulsory medical procedures, recognition of non-binary identities and access to gender-affirming care”.

“The bill dismantles this model. It is discriminating against trans men, trans women, genderqueer people, and gender non-binary per-sons, because this is the only law that recognises the category ‘transgender person’. By doing so, the bill is creating a deep lacuna in the law itself,” it said.

Community members also raised concern over the proposed criminal provisions in Section 18, allowing imprisonment of up to five years for “alluring” or “forcing” someone to become a transgender, despite no credible evidence that such conduct exists as a social pattern in India.

“The provision could easily be misused to harass, target, and incarcerate individuals, communities, networks, and organisations, parents, and other supportive adults and service providers. The ‘socio-cultural communities’ who have been historically known to protect and nurture transgender individuals could be particularly at risk under this clause,” the statement said.