Queer Community in Hyderabad Warns New Transgender Bill Threatens Legal Recognition and NALSA Protections
The amendment Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 12.
Hyderabad:Members of Hyderabad’s transgender and queer community have voiced concern over the proposed amendment to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which activists say could remove legal recognition based on self-identified gender and introduce medical board certification. The amendment Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 12.
Hyderabad-based drag artist and activist Patruni Sastry and LGBTQIA+ collective Mobbera Foundation described the proposal as a rollback of protections recognised in the ‘NALSA v. Union of India’ (2014) judgment. Further, national LGBTQ advocacy collective Yes, We Exist also reacted on social media along with community members under the hashtag #RejectTransBill2026.
Yes, We Exist said the Bill “proposes removal of legal recognition of gender based on self identification, and introduces the requirement of medical board certification.” In the same post it added that the proposal “completely erases transgender men, non-binary persons as well as transgender women who do not belong to kinner-hijra communities.”
Posts from Sastry framed the issue in personal terms. “Self-identification is a basic human right,” Sastry wrote, adding that gender identity “should never require government inspection, medical proof, or bureaucratic approval.” Another post said the bill threatens to replace self-identification with state scrutiny.
Campaign messages circulating online said activists plan to challenge the proposal in Parliament, in public campaigns and through legal action if the Bill moved forward.