A fresh row has erupted over the recently-tabled Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, which activists say, reduces the scope of the current law that was passed in 2019 to protect the rights and benefits of transgender persons across the country.. Members of the Odisha Transgenders Association stage a demonstration, demanding withdrawal of the Centre’s proposed Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, in Bhubaneswar. (PTI). Union minister for social justice and empowerment Virendra Kumar presented the bill in the Lok Sabha on March 13. The proposal aims to introduce changes to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.. ALSO READ | ‘Lawmakers’ imaginations of trans bodies’: Activists reject amendment Bill in its entirety. What is the issue?. In 2014, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark ruling that recognised transgender persons as a separate gender category. It said every individual has the fundamental right to choose their own gender identity.. Then, in 2019, the Parliament brought in the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. This law barred discrimination against transgender persons in areas such as education, housing, employment, healthcare and access to public services.. Now, in 2026, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, has been introduced in Parliament. The concern raised by activists and members of the transgender community is about how the term “transgender person” has been defined in this new bill.. It all comes down to the definition. The bill states that a clear definition is needed to ensure proper identification and protection of transgender persons, so that the benefits under the current law reach the right people.. Under the proposed changes, protection is meant only for those “who face severe social exclusion due to biological reasons for no fault of their own and no choice of their own.”. This approach goes back to the understanding that existed before 2014, placing focus on biological factors to decide eligibility. In its 2014 ruling, the top court had upheld the right to self-identify one’s gender, allowing a person to identify as male, female or third gender.. The self-identification factor. Self-identification refers to how a person understands their own gender. Gender reflects a person’s way of being. It shapes how they feel, dress, interact and behave. A person’s gender identity develops through their own sense of self as well as how society recognises them.. In cases where a person’s sex and gender do not match, the need to affirm one’s identity becomes important. The right to decide one’s own identity helps individuals claim space that society may not provide.. The concern now is that the bill moves away from the basic principle of self-identification of gender. So, it restricts the law to a limited group of transpeople who belong to certain socio-cultural communities that are more visible in
