India top court recognises transgenders as 'third gender'

Published April 15, 2014
In this photograph taken on April 30, 2013, Indian transgender dancers put on makeup before a performance in Kolkata.  India's highest court on April 15, 2014 recognised the existence of a third gender that is neither male nor female, in a landmark judgement hailed by transgender people.  — Photo by AFP
In this photograph taken on April 30, 2013, Indian transgender dancers put on makeup before a performance in Kolkata. India's highest court on April 15, 2014 recognised the existence of a third gender that is neither male nor female, in a landmark judgement hailed by transgender people. — Photo by AFP

NEW DELHI: India's highest court on Tuesday recognised the existence of a third gender that is neither male nor female, in a landmark judgement hailed by transgender people.

“Recognition of transgenders as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue,” Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan told the Supreme Court while handing down the ruling.

The court directed state and federal governments to identify transgenders as a neutral third gender who should be granted access to the same welfare schemes as other minority groups in India.

“Transgenders are citizens of this country and are entitled to education and all other rights,” said Radhakrishnan who headed a two-judge bench on the case.

The case was filed in 2012 by a group of petitioners including prominent eunuch and activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi seeking equal rights for the transgender population under the law.

Tripathi hailed the judgement, saying transgenders have long suffered from discrimination and ignorance in the traditionally conservative country.

“Today, for the first time I feel very proud to be an Indian,” Tripathi told reporters outside the court in New Delhi.

“Today my sisters and I feel like real Indians and we feel so proud because of the rights granted to us by the Supreme Court,” Tripathi said.

The decision comes after the same court last December reinstated a ban on gay sex, in a shock ruling that sparked accusations it was dragging the country back to the 19th century.

Gay sex had been effectively legalised in 2009 when the Delhi High Court ruled that a section of the penal code prohibiting “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” was an infringement of fundamental rights.

Opinion

Editorial

Ukraine initiative
Updated 21 Feb, 2025

Ukraine initiative

Whether Trump’s Ukraine peace initiative succeeds or not, it will be difficult for Kyiv, Europe to face Russian military machine without US support.
High cost of SOEs
21 Feb, 2025

High cost of SOEs

THERE are losses and then some. The finance ministry’s latest overview of the federally owned state enterprises...
Poor impression
21 Feb, 2025

Poor impression

RECENT developments in the Senate have provided cause for concern on how parliamentary business is being conducted....
Premature alarm
Updated 20 Feb, 2025

Premature alarm

Improvement in headline inflation gives policymakers chance to fix investment policies, implement structural reforms.
Forsaken province
20 Feb, 2025

Forsaken province

AND the endless cycle of violence continues. The brutal killing on Tuesday night of seven Punjab-bound passengers in...
In poor health
20 Feb, 2025

In poor health

THE absence of decent and affordable healthcare in the country continues to ruin lives. An example of this is ...