Signature campaign by third genders against ‘SIR deletion’

Kolkata: Alarmed at how the ongoing SIR failed to safeguard the constitutional right of trans and queer persons to vote, members of the trans and queer communities launched an online signature campaign to stop disenfranchising trans-queer voters in Bengal.

TOI reported that the names of as many as 250 persons, from among 1,811, belonging to the ‘other gender' category were deleted from Bengal's draft SIR list, primarily due to being ‘untraceable' or ‘absent'.



The campaign read, "For many of us, this exclusion is not accidental but predictable. Activists previously made written representations to the ECI, urging inclusive processes that recognise the lived realities of queer and trans people — particularly those without stable family ties or formal documentation. Despite these representations, the reassurances offered by officials came to naught, and there was no meaningful change in policy that would prevent disenfranchisement… Our right to vote is fundamental. Exclusion from the voter rolls is not just bureaucratic oversight — it is social erasure. We demand our rights as voters and citizens of this country."

The campaign, which garnered over 214 signatures till Tuesday evening, called on the ECI to ensure that all queer and trans persons are included in the final electoral roll, provide safe, community-centred hearing mechanisms that do not require people to return to environments associated with past violence, and publish transparent data on how many queer and trans persons are affected by the process so that appropriate corrective measures can be implemented.

According to Koyel Ghosh of Sappho for Equality, the core flaw in the process is its heavy reliance on traditional notions of address, parental linkage, and old documentation that many queer and trans people do not possess. "Countless members of our community were forced to leave their natal homes due to social stigma or direct violence," said Ghosh.

Sintu Bagui, trans rights activist, said, "A significant number of eligible trans voters did not appear for hearings out of fear, as they had to be physically present at locations close to their natal homes from where they were driven away."Queer trans rights activist Soham Basu said, "The SIR process is systematically silencing the voices of the marginalised."