Groups urge President not to grant assent to ‘regressive’ Transgender Amendment Bill

A time aft the Rajya Sabha passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, astir 140 lawyers and feminists wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, urging her not to assistance assent to the Bill, pointing retired “constitutional violations” successful its provisions and “procedural infirmities” successful the mode it was passed.

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The missive was written by All-India Feminist Alliance (ALIFA), a pan-India corporate of grassroots organisations, on with National Alliance for Justice, Accountability and Rights (NAJAR), a forum of lawyers and ineligible professionals.

The groups said successful their missive that they were “extremely alarmed and distressed astatine the undue and unjustifiable haste” with which the Bill was passed successful the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Breach of legislative policy

They said that not taking nationalist and stakeholder consultation violated the mandate of the Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy, 2014. Members of the National Council for Transgender Persons had said that they were not consulted. Soon aft the Rajya Sabha passed it connected Wednesday, 2 members and representatives submitted their resignations, the missive pointed out.

The missive emphasised that successful the National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India (2014) judgment, the Supreme Court held that the close to self-determination of sex is simply a cardinal close protected nether Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution.

Further, they said the instauration of a aesculapian board, whose proposal is required to “examine” earlier issuance of a certificate of identity, besides goes against the Supreme Court’s stance successful NALSA, which rejected specified a requirement, adding that this besides violates the “right to bodily integrity and privacy” arsenic enshrined successful the Constitution.

By removing the warrant of self-perceived identity, narrowing the explanation of who qualifies arsenic transgender, and introducing layers of aesculapian and administrative scrutiny, transgender people, activists and allies, accidental that galore volition beryllium erased and rendered invisible by the Bill.

Meanwhile, aggregate property conferences and protests took spot connected Thursday, arsenic groups person acceptable up helpline numbers amid existential questions connected the emergence among transgender communities.