Thiruvananthapuram: The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) 2018 Bill badly affects every transgender person, but activists say that transmen are hit more seriously.
The Bill indirectly stipulates surgery for anyone who wants to identify as a man or a woman, according to the activists. Since gender affirmation surgeries of transmen cost around Rs 10 lakh, many transmen do not undergo it, according to Ishaan K. Shaan, a member of Thiruvananthapuram transgender justice committee. “The masectomy surgery will cost Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. Surgeries to remove uterus and ovaries would also cost several lakhs of rupees. The bottom surgeries are very complicated and can cost Rs 5 lakh. Many transmen do not undergo surgeries, but that does not affect their gender identity.
Their gender is male with or without surgical intervention, something which the Supreme Court recognised when it issued the NALSA judgment,” says Ishaan.
The Bill does say that a transgender person has a “right to self-perceived identity,” but in the next lines, it contradicts this when it prescribes a process of issuing a transgender certificate. This is a two-step process for a transman who would rather be known as a man, or a transwoman who wants to be referred to as a woman. The Bill says that for a transgender person to be called simply a man or a woman, they need to present a certificate saying they have undergone surgery.
Moreover, the screening committee has but one transgender as a member. The rest are chief medical officer, district social welfare officer, a psychologist or psychiatrist and an officer of the appropriate government.
Without adequate representation, activists feel the focus is on the doctors’ opinions. “The procedures of this screening panel are not spelt out but it is implied there will be some medical examination as part of this screening process. It also unnecessarily medically pathologises trans-identities instead of seeing it as a matter of individual bodily autonomy,” says Vihaan Peethambar, board member of the LGBTQIA+ organisation Queerala.
The Bill violates the provisions of the NALSA judgment, according to the activists. When people for gender and sexual minorities gather on Friday at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, in protest against the Bill, this will be one of the prominent slogans against it.
