Transgender Rights Bill: A Stunted Understanding of Gender and Equality

'The new version of the Transgender Rights Bill is undeniably an improvement over its predecessors. It has a comparatively expansive definition of the term ‘transgender’, and has done away with problematic provisions requiring a screening process and criminalising begging. Nevertheless, the new Bill leaves much to be desired – it presents a misplaced understanding of ‘gender’ and limited equalising potential. For starters, the Bill takes gender to be concrete and determinable. A ‘transgender’ is defined under Clause 2(K) as “a person whose gender does not match with the gender assigned to that person at birth”. The Statement of Objects and Reasons to the Bill states that the transgender community is among the most marginalised in the country because “they do not fit into the general categories of gender of male or female”...'