[Marxistindia] Withdraw Transgender Persons Amendment Bill

[news from the cpi(m)]

March 14, 2026

 

Press Statement

 

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the
following statement:

 

Withdraw Transgender Persons Amendment Bill

 

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its
strong opposition to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights)
Amendment Bill, 2026.

 

These amendments fundamentally negate the principle of self-determination of
gender identity affirmed by the Supreme Court in the NALSA v. Union of India
(2014). Clause 2 omits recognition of self-perceived gender identities and
substitutes it with a definition requiring certification by a medical board
headed by a Chief Medical Officer. Section 4 further empowers the District
Magistrate to scrutinise these certificates before issuing identity
documents, subjecting transgender persons to invasive bureaucratic and
medical oversight, which border on vigilantism. These provisions directly
violate the fundamental rights to privacy, dignity and personal autonomy
guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

 

The definition of transgender persons has been drastically narrowed. While
the 2019 Act recognised transmen, transwomen, gender-queers and persons with
diverse gender identities, the amended definition restricts recognition
primarily to specific socio-cultural communities and persons with intersex
variations. The Statement of Objects and Reasons explicitly disavows any
intention to protect persons with self-perceived gender identities. This
deliberate exclusion erases trans men, non-binary persons and gender-fluid
individuals from the ambit of legal protection entirely.

 

The BJP government, guided by the Hindutva worldview, has long sought to
impose a rigid, Brahmanical concept of gender and social order. This Bill
reflects the regressive Manuvadi outlook, which denies individuals the right
to define themselves. This regressive mindset also finds reflection in the
stand of the Union government in the Supreme Court where it affirmed that it
is not inclined to lift the discriminatory ban on blood donations made by
trans persons.

 

This retrograde amendment systematically dismantles the limited protections
enshrined in the 2019 Act and replaces them with a regime of state
surveillance, medical gatekeeping, and bureaucratic control. This Bill is an
assault on the constitutional rights of transgender persons and must be
withdrawn forthwith.

 

The Polit Bureau asserts that legislations that impact the rights and lives
of any particular community should not be introduced without prior
consultations with the stakeholders. 

 

 

 

(Muralidharan)

For CPI(M) Central Committee Office

 

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