Transgender

Who Are They?

Status In The
society

By
Ringicha
NUJS Student

Difference between Sex

and Gender
GENDER
Gender is a term
SEX
Sex refers to biological
status as male or female.
It includes physical
attributes such as sex
chromosomes, gonads,
sex hormones, internal
reproductive structures,
and external genitalia.

that is often used to

refer to ways that
people act, interact,
or feel about
themselves, which
are associated with
boys/men and
girls/women.

Who is a
Transgender
?

Transgender people are individuals

of any age or sex whose
appearance, personal
characteristics, or behaviours differ
from stereotypes about how men
and women are supposed to be.

Q. What is Gender identity?

A. It refers to a persons internal, deeply
felt sense of being either man or woman,
or something other or in between.

Sexual orientation It refers to an

individuals enduring physical,
romantic, and/or emotional attraction
to another person.

Have they
always
existed?

Since the ancient times, they have

been documented to exist in many
indigenous, Western, and Eastern
cultures and societies.

Why are some

people
TRANSGEND
ER?
Is it a
mental

Experts believe that biological

factors such as genetic
influences and prenatal
hormonal levels, early
experiences, and experiences
later in adolescence or

A psychological state is
considered a mental disorder
only if it causes significant
distress or disability. Many
transgender people do not
experience their gender as
distressing or disabling, which
implies that identifying as

Types of
Transgender

 Transsexual Their gender

identity is different from their
assigned sex. They alter their
bodies via means of hormones,
surgery (Sex-reassignment
surgery), etc.
Transvestite or Cross Dresser
They cross dress, i.e., wear
clothes that are stereotypically
worn by another gender as per

 Gender queer They identify

their gender as falling outside
the binary constructs of male
and female.
Androgynous They cannot be
classified into the typical gender
roles of their society; it is
independent of orientation. It
can be either psychological or

People with intersex condition

Transgender people
should not be confused
with people having an
intersex condition. Their
anatomies are not
considered typically
male or female.

Discriminatio
n

Employm
ent

Discriminat Health
ion
care

Housing

Educatio
n

Transgender
in India

 Termed as Hijras, Kinnars,

Shiv-shaktis, Jogtas,
Jogappas, Aradhis, Sakhis,
etc.
They face a variety of
issues: exclusion from
social and cultural life,
economy, politics and
decision-making

Judicial
decisions on
Transgender

National Legal Services Authority

vs. Union of India and Others
Supreme Court
15th April 2014

Writ Petition (Civil)

No.604 of 2013 & Writ
Petition No.400 of
2012

Parties: The National Legal Services Authority of India

(Nalsa), Poojya Mata Nasib Kaur Ji Women Welfare
Society and Laxmi Narayan Tripathy, a renowned
Hijra activist, were the petitioners.
Bench : Two-bench Judge. Justice K.S. Panicker
Radhakrishnan and Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri.

The Supreme Court Held:

The determination of gender to which a person
belonged to, was left to the decision of the
person concerned. The protection offered by
Article 21 of the Constitution was that of the
right to self-determination of the gender to
which a person belongs.
Article 14, 15, 16, 19 and 21 of the Constitution
of India did not exclude Hijras/Transgenders
from its ambit, but Indian law as a whole
recognized the paradigm of binary genders of
male and female, based on ones biological sex.
Non recognition of the Hijras/Transgenders in

 The Constitution of India under Article 14 used

the expression person and Article 15 used the
expression citizen and sex same to Article 16.
Article 19 also used the expression citizen.
Article 21 used the expression person. All these
expressions were held to be gender neutral
which evidently referred to human-beings.
Gender identity according to the court formed the
core of ones personal self, based on selfidentification, not on surgical or medical
procedure. It further held that discrimination on
the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity
had the effect of nullifying or transposing equality

 If a person changed his/her sex in tune with

his/her gender characteristics and perception, a
procedure that became possible due
advancement in medical science, and if that was
permitted in medical ethics with no legal
embargo, the court posed no impediment, legal
or otherwise, in giving due recognition to the
gender identity based on the reassign sex after
undergoing SRS.
The term transgender was used in the wider
sense. Even gay, lesbian, bisexual were included
by the descriptor transgender. This came to be
known as the umbrella term which included Gay

Thus, the Supreme Court Declared that:

Hijras, eunuchs, etc. to be treated as third
gender.
They will have the right to choose their selfidentified gender.
To grant legal recognition to their gender
identity such as male, female or third gender.
The Central and State Government should treat
them as socially and educationally backward
classes of citizens.
And to extent reservation in educational
institutions and public appointments.
To operate separate HIV Sero-surveillance

 To tackle problems faced by Hijras like, fear,

shame, gender dysphoria, social pressure,
depression, suicidal tendencies, social stigma,
etc.
To provide medical care and separate toilets
for Hijras.
To frame various welfare schemes for their
betterment.
To create public awareness so that Hijras are
not treated as untouchables.
To take measures in order to regain their
respect and place in the society.

Section 377
of the Indian
Penal Code

In Naz Foundation vs. Govt. of NCT

of Delhi (July, 2009), which was
decided by a two-judge bench
(Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and
Justice S. Muralidhar,) struck down
much of section 377 of IPC as being
unconstitutional. It was held that
criminalizing of consensual gay sex
was in violation of Article 14, 15
and 21 of the Indian Constitution.
But in 11 December, 2013, the Supreme
Court upheld the constitutionality of Section
377 of the IPC.
And on 28 December, 2014, the Supreme

Tamil Nadu Welfare Scheme

April, 2008

Tamil Nadu is the first State to

introduce transgender welfare policy.
It aims to provide transgender people
free access to Sex-reassignment
Surgery in Government Hospitals, free
housing programs, various citizenship
documents, admission in government
colleges with full scholarship for higher
studies, etc.

Transgender Welfare Board

by Maharashtra

28th August 2014

Although the second State to announce the

formation of the board, Maharashtra is the first
State to have a complete study done on the
community and announce welfare schemes as
recommended by the Supreme Court.

Transgender Development
Board by West Bengal
19TH March
2015

The Development Board would be headed by a

Chairperson appointed by the State Cabinet and have
12 members and representatives from various
transgender communities.
It will be the first board in the country which is formed
for the development of the transgender and not for
their welfare.
It will aim to provide them with education,
employment opportunities, identity cards, health care,
etc.

Rajya Sabha passes Bill on

Transgender Rights
April 24, 2015

The Rajya Sabha passed a private members

bill, The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill,
2014, which aims to protect and provide
rights for transgender. It also guarantees
reservation in education and jobs, financial aid
and social inclusion.

Transgender
recognition in
different
countries

BANGLA
DESH
In November 2013, the
government announced the
recognition of hijra as a third
gender category in all national
documents and passports.

NEPAL
In 2007, Nepal became the first
country to include a third gender
option on its census forms as a
stand against gender identity
discrimination, which was initiated
in 2011.
It also issued citizenship with third
gender options to third genders.
It legalized cross dressing and a
third gender option in 2007 along
with the introduction of several new

PAKISTAN
In 2009, local police had
allegedly attacked, robbed and
raped eight hijra wedding
dancers near Islamabad.
At the end of 2009, the chief
justice of Pakistan ordered the
National Database and
Registration Authority to issue
national identity cards with a
"third gender" category for nonbinary citizens.

SRI
LANKA

Sri Lanka does not recognize

the rights of the transgender
people and has not given any
legal gender status to them.
Moreover, the transgender
people are victims of
harassment and
discrimination.

ARGENTINA
The worlds most transgender
friendly country.
Trans people will be able to
change their legal gender and
name without judicial permission
or any requirement that they
undergo surgeries.
Trans people will have access to
the countrys socialized medical
system for all their transitionrelated care for free including any

GERMANY
It is the first country in Europe to
enact a law that allows German
citizens to choose to neither identify
as male or female on their birth
certificate.
Transgender people also hold the
right to change their legal order,
1980.
since
In 2013, the third gender category was
officially recognized on birth certificates for
intersex infants.
They then , after reaching an adult age, can
self-determine their gender either as male or

NEW
In 2012, New ZealandZEALAND
gave its

transgender citizens a new gender

category on their passports, with the
introduction of X for undetermined
or unspecified.
They can now change their gender
category to X on their passports with
Transgender people are covered under the
a single declaration.
sex discrimination provision of the Human
Rights Act 1993.
In 1994, the New Zealand High Court ruled
that post operative transsexuals could
marry as their new sex.

THAILAND
Undergoing Sex-reassignment surgery
is easily and inexpensively available
here.
Transgender people, known as ladyboys or kathoey, although are accepted
by society but are not considered as
women after their transitions and
cannot get updated IDs and working
papers as women.

AUSTRALIA
The affirmed sex of an individual
after the sexual reassignment
surgery is recognized by all
Australian Jurisdictions.
But the person's affirmed gender
cannot be recognised if the
person is married, as this would
In April 2014, the High
convert the marriage into a
Court of Australia ruled
same-sex marriage, which is
that people are not
banned under current federal
unambiguously male or
law.
female, allowing a third
gender (non-specific
gender) under the law.

CANADA
Transgender people can
change their legal gender and
name after completion of
medical intervention in most
provinces and territories (not
required in Ontario, British
Columbia).
Explicit anti-discrimination protections
only in Alberta, NWT, Manitoba,
Saskatchewan and Ontario, implicit
elsewhere.

CHINA
Transsexuals allowed to change
legal gender, but only after sex
reassignment surgery.

JAPAN
In 2008, a law was passed allowing
transgender people who have gone
through sex reassignment surgery to
change their legal gender.
Only if the transsexual has no child
under 20 years old.

SINGAPORE
Transsexuals allowed to change
legal gender, but only after sex
reassignment surgery.

Transgender people have the right

to marry opposite-sex spouses.

SOUTH
AFRICA
The Alteration of Sex Description and
Sex Status Act allows people to apply
to have their sex status altered in the
population registry, and
consequently to receive identity
documents and passports indicating
their new sex.
The law requires the person to have
undergone medical or surgical
treatment.

UNITED STATES OF
In the United States, classifying a persons
AMERICA
sex as male or female is a power which is
left to the jurisdiction of the States and is
dependent on factors such as psychological
therapy, hormone therapy, and sex
reassignment surgery (SRS).
Several courts have come to the conclusion
that sex reassignments are not recognized
Gender identity
for the purpose of marriage, including courts
discrimination in
in Illinois, Texas, and New York.
employment and A majority of states permit the name and sex
healthcare
to be changed on a birth certificate, either
insurance banned through amending the existing birth

The
End