2 months ago
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A ample fig of transgender, intersex, and sex divers individuals took retired a march to Lok Bhavan and burnt copies of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, present connected Tuesday demanding withdrawal of the Bill.
The march from Martyrs’ Column astatine Palayam to Lok Bhavan was organised nether the umbrella of the Queer-Trans-Intersex Rights Joint Action Committee Keralam to question an apology from the Union authorities and the withdrawal of the Bill that was introduced successful Parliament a fewer days ago.
The incensed protesters alleged that the Bill successful the sanction of extortion really took distant the close to sex self-determination that had been granted by the Supreme Court successful 2014. The projected amendment alternatively replaced it with aesculapian scrutiny for recognising identity.
“Self-perceived identities person been removed from the explanation of transgender successful the Bill,” Prijith P.K., 1 of the protesters, said.
‘A regressive step’
The caller explanation was a usurpation of quality and law rights, argued the transgender community, calling it a regressive measurement that went against the 2014 National Legal Services Authority judgement and the existing 2019 Act.
They pointed retired that transmen, transwomen, and sex queer had been removed from the explanation and those with socio-cultural identities specified arsenic kinner, hijra, aravani, and jogta oregon eunuchs included.
However, portion these identities existed successful different parts of India, successful Kerala this was not the case, they pointed out.
Recognising lone immoderate socio-cultural identities was a bid to enforce the Union governement’s ideological views connected everyone, Arjun Geetha, a transman, said. In immoderate case, much socio-cultural identities existed successful the state than mentioned successful the Bill, helium pointed out.
‘Without consultation’
They alleged that the Bill had been introduced without immoderate assemblage consultation. On a specified complaint, the penal clause of minimum 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and a good of implicit ₹2 lakh could beryllium utilized against members of the assemblage oregon its organisations that travel to the enactment of transgender persons astatine assorted stages, particularly those who faced absorption from their families, they said. With the Bill excluding radical with self-perceived identities, transgender individuality cards already issued to them could besides beryllium taken away.
Prijith expressed apprehension that bureaucratic involution could increase, particularly if a aesculapian committee was certifying that an idiosyncratic was transgender. Arjun besides expressed privateness interest implicit the proviso requiring furnishing the details of a idiosyncratic who had undergone country to the District Magistrate. There was a batch that was problematic with the Bill, helium added.
Prijith said the protesters who marched to Lok Bhavan included individuals from the assemblage who were members of the Bharatiya Janata Party. “We are trying to lobby MPs crossed parties to drum up enactment against the Bill. District-level protests volition statesman with 1 successful Ernakulam connected Wednesday and Kozhikode connected Thursday.”
