Transgender Groups Protest Amendment Bill
Speakers highlighted the impact on daily life. “At a time when I had just begun to feel that I could live with recognition as a human being, this Bill has taken away all that hope,” said Kiran Raj, a trans rights activist and advocate.
HYDERABAD: A coalition of transgender persons, activists, students and civil society groups gathered at Dharna Chowk on Wednesday to oppose the proposed Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, calling it a rollback of constitutional protections and demanding its withdrawal.
“This Bill sets us back not by a few years, but by 126 years,” said Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli, senior human rights and RTI activist, linking it to the colonial-era Telangana Eunuchs Act. She reminded the gathering that courts had previously described such laws as “an assault on the dignity of transgender persons.”
Speakers highlighted the impact on daily life. “At a time when I had just begun to feel that I could live with recognition as a human being, this Bill has taken away all that hope,” said Kiran Raj, a trans rights activist and advocate. He asked, “If this Bill becomes law, will we still have the freedom to say ‘I am a trans man’ or ‘I am a trans woman’?”
Concerns centred on the requirement of medical certification. “Why should people like me be forced to stand before a medical board to prove who we are?” Kiran asked, warning it could lead to coercive practices such as correction therapies and forced marriages. Clinical psychologist Aarathi Selvan added, “When there is discrimination and institutional abandonment, it leads to extreme stress, anxiety, depression and even suicidal thoughts. A trans person’s gender identity is not determined by how others perceive them. It is a deeply felt sense of self.”
Speakers also pointed to India’s legal history. “NALSA is all we have. If NALSA goes, almost everything is gone,” said Vyjayanti, referring to the Supreme Court’s recognition of self-identification.
