Mishandling the issue of gender dysphoria in India - an analysis of the transgender persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019

The Constitution of India through its equality clause, as established under Article 14, attempted to ensure an egalitarian society. This aspiration of the Constitutional framers, however, is difficult to attain, given the regressive societal values. One discriminated class of population which has faced years of oppression are the transgender. To remedy this situation the Government of India in the year 2019, introduced the Transgender Persons Act, in furtherance of the Supreme Court rulings NALSA v Union of India and Navtej Singh Johar v Union of India. The Act is being seen as a milestone in the direction of emancipation of the transgender community. It however has also been subjected to criticism, mainly because it has also accorded certain arbitrary powers to government officials. In the present paper, an attempt will be made by the authors to analyse both positive and negative aspects of the act and to suggest a way out for the prevailing loopholes.