The Parliament has passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, a controversial law that changes how transgender people are legally recognised in the country. The government says the amendments will make welfare delivery more targeted and strengthen safeguards against exploitation, but opposition parties and LGBTQ groups argue that the new law rolls back key rights granted under the 2019 Act. The biggest concern is the removal of the right to self-identify gender, which activists say was the most important protection under the earlier law. The changes have triggered protests across the country, with community groups warning that the new rules could make it harder for many transgender and non-binary people to access education, jobs, healthcare and government schemes.
What Has Changed
The 2019 law had defined a transgender person broadly. It included trans men, trans women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queer individuals and people with socio-cultural identities such as hijra, kinner, aravani and jogta. It also recognised the right of a person to identify their own gender without compulsory medical verification.
The 2026 amendment narrows this definition. Legal recognition is now limited mainly to people belonging to specified socio-cultural identities or those with recognised intersex variations. The provision that allowed individuals to self-identify their gender has been removed.
Under the new law, applicants may need certification based on evaluation by a medical board, a step critics describe as invasive and inconsistent with the right to dignity and privacy.
Why The Community Is Opposing It
Transgender rights groups say the amendment goes against the Supreme Court’s 2014 NALSA judgment, which affirmed that gender identity is based on a person’s inner sense of self and does not require medical proof. Activists fear that removing self-identification could exclude many transgender, non-binary and gender-fluid people from legal recognition.
They also warn that access to reservations, welfare schemes, healthcare, education and grievance redressal could become more difficult if recognition depends on medical approval.
Many activists say the 2019 law, despite its flaws, had positioned India as a progressive country on transgender rights, and the new amendment risks reversing those gains.
