The Lok Sabha passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026 on Tuesday after a three-hour debate with Social Justice Minister Virendra Kumar, stating that protection of transgender persons was an “absolute need” and demonstrated the “moral strength” of the republic, even as the Opposition termed the bill “unconstitutional” and questioned the urgency of the government in formulating amendments to an existing law without consulting the affected community.
“In 2019, a bill to protect transgender people was introduced in this very House. Now, we have introduced another sensitive bill, amending some sections only to protect these people, who face serious social exclusion due to their biological condition. Apart from giving rights, this bill will also provide dignity and compassion so that transgender people live as equals,” Kumar said.
“Bringing the community into the mainstream is easier said than done. I want to assure the House that the community will continue to be treated equally as per the law and its rights will continue to be protected. This bill will empower transgender people and restore pride and prestige to the community,” he said.
The bill, which is expected to be discussed in the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing Budget session, contains amendments to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. It redefines the category of transgender, removes the provision for self-perceived gender identity and excludes several socio-cultural identities as well as transgender individuals from its ambit. Furthermore, it defines transgender people within a biological framework, based on gender differences and differences in sexual development. The draft law allows for greater administrative supervision and reporting by medical institutions after sex reassignment surgery, and provides for the establishment of a medical board on whose recommendation the district judge can issue identity certificates. It also expands crimes against transgender people to include forced mutilation, kidnapping, coercion and exploitation, and stipulates tougher penalties ranging from five years to life imprisonment. However, the penalty for committing sexual crimes against transgender people remains unchanged, with a maximum sentence of two years.
Speaking in favor of the bill, BJP MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi from Balasore said the biological basis for determining the transgender category is a “scientific approach” that will protect transgenders from “infiltrators” and “fakes” who “can take away their rights”.
Four other members of Parliament, including Kumar, spoke in favor of the bill. Telugu Desam Party MP Dr Bairidhi Shabari said several transgenders have approached her saying that people posing as transgenders are availing benefits in her state Andhra Pradesh.
Eleven members of the opposition parties, including MPs S Jothimani and Juwal Padavi, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule, Dravida Munnetra MP Kazhagam Thamizhi Thangapandian, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Abhay Kumar Sinha and Samajwadi Party MP Anand Bhadauria spoke against the bill.
“This bill is not a reform but a rollback and fundamentally changes the relationship between the citizen and the government from one of rights to one of licence. It creates bureaucratic hurdles in an already difficult process,” said Jothimani, who represents Karur constituency in Tamil Nadu.
“What is the urgency to bring this bill, when the world is at war? We would have preferred to discuss the country’s economic situation and LPG shortage instead. The bill is worrying because there is a lot of ambiguity in the criminal provisions which I fear will be misused against people who want to help the transgender community. We are ready to work with the government, if it really wants to give the transgender community a voice, it should provide reservations, education and job opportunities to transgender people,” Maharashtra’s Baramati said.
“Removing the right to self-identify is tantamount to criminalizing a person’s decision about how they want to live. Why was so much power given to bureaucrats?” said Bhadauria, Member of Parliament from Dohrahra in Uttar Pradesh.
Since the bill was introduced on March 13, more than 88 organizations and networks working with the transgender community have organized demonstrations, public hearings and press conferences across the country to challenge the amendments. Nearly 40,000 people signed a joint statement rejecting the draft law and calling for a rights-based framework; In another campaign, more than 20,000 emails were sent to representatives across the country, asking them to reject the bill when it is put up for discussion in Parliament.
On Tuesday, a press conference was held in New Delhi where several members of the transgender community spoke, including Tamil Nadu Dalit rights activist Grace Pannu, Anand C Rajappan, who contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, Mumbai filmmaker and founder of the transgender support group Sampoorna, Satya Rai Nagpaul, and author A. Revathi is from Bengaluru. They rejected the draft law in its current form, and urged the government to send the draft law to a standing committee.
A high-level delegation of transgender activists met Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and MP Jothimani on Tuesday, prompting the party to issue a strong statement of categorical opposition.
“We are not your Ardhanari, we are not your Aravani. We are human beings, and we deserve our human rights,” Bannu said.
“I am a 32-year-old Dalit transgender and I would like to invite everyone who drafted this bill to attend a gender sensitization workshop to understand the difference between intersex and transgender,” Rajappan said.
“I think we have to address the bigger question of how the state sees us. If the state cannot see us, then we will be at the mercy of any bureaucrat and whatever the ruling party wants to do with us. This is a kind of deprivation of rights and delegitimization of citizenship,” Nagpaul said.
Last week, a four-member delegation from the National Council for Transgender People (NCTP), under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, met with ministry officials to raise concerns about the amendments and lack of consultation. Kalki Subramaniam, who was part of the delegation, said: “I have never felt younger as a person than I did that day.” “It was clear that there was a deep gap in their understanding of the transgender community,” said Raveena Bhareha, another member of the delegation.
