Transgender Bill Passed Amid Resistance By Opposition, Activists

The controversial Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, was passed in the Lok Sabha today amid vociferous protests from opposition parties and transgender rights activists. The government was accused of "rushing" the legislation without adequate consultation and diluting the transgender community's hard-won rights to self-identification..

The Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 13 by Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Dr. Virendra Kumar, seeks to amend the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. 

The key changes include ten need to require a certificate of identity. This is to be issued by the District Magistrate after the applicant is examined by a designated medical board headed by a Chief Medical Officer or Deputy Chief Medical Officer. The Bill also allows transgender persons to change their first name in birth certificates and other official documents on basis of this certificate. 

It aims to provide a "precise definition" of transgender persons, focusing on those facing severe social exclusion due to biological conditions. The self-perceived gender identities not aligned with specified socio-cultural or intersex categories are excluded.

Moving the Bill, Dr. Virendra Kumar said its objective is to "protect only those individuals who face severe social exclusion due to their biological condition". 

The proposed law, he said, provides for the rights and welfare of transgender persons, and under the Bill, the District Magistrate will issue the certificate of identity.

BJP Lok Sabha MP Mukesh Dalal told NDTV: "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been taking initiatives for the welfare of the transgender community for a long time. This bill is an important step in that direction. This new bill will provide legal protection to the transgender community and they will be able to secure their rights."

Finance Bill Put on Hold

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju intervened on Tuesday to shift priority from the ongoing debate on the Finance Bill-to take up and pass the Transgender Bill the same day. Rijiju sought the "sense of the House" for immediate passage, repeatedly emphasizing that the Bill should not be delayed.

Opposition MPs highlighted the unusual haste. The Transgender Bill was originally listed after the Finance Bill, yet Rijiju requested it be taken up immediately, with the Finance Minister's reply deferred to the next day. An MP could be heard asking in the background, "Itni jaldi kya hai? (What is the rush?)".

Government's Explanation

Rijiju acknowledged requests from Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP), All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), and NCP (SP) to refer the Bill to a Select or Standing Committee for stakeholder consultation, including with the transgender community. 

He conceded that these parties had raised the demand even in the Business Advisory Committee meeting. He, however, pushed back saying that the amendments are not "major", extensive debates have already occured and the changes follow a year-long discussion in a Standing Committee.

Opposition Objects 

Opposition members and activists challenged these assertions, noting that the Bill was never placed in the public domain as required under the Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy of 2014. No specific Standing Committee report on transgender issues from the last year was cited in the Statement of Objects and Reasons.

"This is not protection; this is exclusion by design," declared S. Jothimani, Congress MP from Karur, Tamil Nadu, during the debate. 

She called the Bill a regressive step brought without consulting transgender individuals and argued that a constitutional democracy cannot decide which identities are legitimate. 

"Equality before the law cannot be conditional," she added. Jothimani had earlier described the Bill as a "clear rollback of hard-won constitutional rights," warning that medical screening violates privacy and bodily autonomy and exposes transgender persons to invasive practices. "The State has no place in policing identity."

Anand Bhadauria of the Samajwadi Party, MP from Dhaurahra, Uttar Pradesh, opposed the Bill and demanded it be sent to a Select Committee. He cautioned, "The clause which criminalises forcing someone to be transgender is very worrying. You want to criminalise the entire community."

"There is a larger and deeply troubling pattern emerging: This government increasingly seeks to regulate every sphere of personal life-what we eat, who we love, what we watch, what we write... we should not forget the simple truth, you cannot certify a human soul through a medical board. Identity is a fundamental right, not a government permit," said Thamizhachi Thangapandian, DMK member and MP from South Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

June Maliah of Trinamool Congress highlighted that India has one of the largest transgender populations and said the Bill fails to protect and empower them.

Supriya Sule of NCP (SP) termed it an "anti-transgender bill" brought in haste-amid issues like reported LPG shortages-and demanded referral to a Select Committee.

TDP Supports Bill

Dr Byreddy Shabari of TDP supported the Bill, calling it "historic" for giving identity and justice to the transgender community.

Activists Meet Rahul Gandhi 

Hours before the debate, a delegation of around 15 transgender activists met Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Jothimani. 

Rahul Gandhi assured them of Congress support, saying the Bill raises "a question of your identity". 

He later posted on X that the Bill "strips transgender people of their ability to self-identify... forces trans people to undergo dehumanizing examinations by a medical board... [and] introduces criminal penalties and surveillance without safeguards." Congress, he said, "unequivocally opposes this Bill."

Jothimani, who had also met activists earlier, reiterated her opposition in the House.

Despite these objections and repeated calls to refer the Bill to a 
parliamentary committee and the transgender community for broader consultation, the government proceeded with the vote, and the Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha.

The development comes amid ongoing protests by transgender groups across the country, who argue the amendments roll back rights recognized by the Supreme Court in the 2014 NALSA judgment and undermine bodily autonomy and self-determination.

The bill is scheduled to be taken up tomorrow in the Rajya Sabha.

"We have included important provisions in the new legislation to grant greater legal rights to the transgender community and to ensure the protection of their rights. Opposition parties should not have created a ruckus and disrupted the proceedings in the House. This bill is in the interest of the transgender community in the country and will further strengthen their legal rights," Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale told NDTV.