New Statutory Provisions For Transgenders in Kerala

Scripting history, Kerala government has challenged the stereotypes and prejudices in the society against the Transgenders. It has adapted the Supreme Court ruling in the National Legal Services Authority (NLSA) v. Union Of India (2014) into a sensitive policy for the transgenders in the state.

The policy covers all the categories of 25,000 transgenders, including male to female transgenders and intersex people in the state. Addressing their basic questions of self-identity and perception, it replaces the stereotype term ‘Third Gender’ with ‘Transgender’ in the official parlance.

Through this policy, transgenders are allowed to assign themselves any gender they choose in their official identity cards. They are now statutorily identified as socially and educationally backward community. Thus are entitled to the benefits and reservations in education, employment and government policies and schemes. The policy also gives high premium to the gender and sexuality sensitisation of the families, educational institutions, workplaces and the law enforcing agencies.

The Department of Social Justice will conduct a midterm evaluation of the policy in 2018, to take stock of the achievements and failures, and suggest remedial measures.

News Source: Kerala Gov. | NDTV | Indian Express | The Hindu

Image Credits: Udiyannoordevi.org, Wikipedia.org

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