Advertisement

India Supreme Court recognizes third gender in landmark ruling

India Supreme Court recognizes third gender in landmark ruling

From now on, all official documents in India must include the option for people to identify themselves as a third gender: transgender.

In a landmark ruling by India's Supreme Court, human rights are being guaranteed to anyone who does not identify with the gender on their birth certificate, something that currently applies to three million of the nation's population.

"Recognition of transgender [people] as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue," Justice KS Radhakrishnan told the court.

"Transgender [people] are also citizens of India," he said. "The spirit of the constitution is to provide equal opportunity to every citizen to grow and attain their potential, irrespective of caste, religion or gender."

Because the transgender population has not been legally recognized until now, many of them have been abused, ostracized, and forced into begging and prostitution. Hospitals often refused to admit them, and employers wouldn't hire them.

According to the Independent, the court ruled the the government must provide transgender people with equal access to education, healthcare and welfare programs.

Also see: Life hacks you should avoid

The government will have to allocate a certain percentage of public sector jobs and seats in college classes to transgender applicants. Transgender people will have equal rights to adopt children.

"We are quite thrilled by the judgement," Anita Shenoy, lawyer for the petitioner National Legal Services Authority (Nalsa), tells the BBC.

"The court order gives legal sanctity to the third gender. The judges said the government must make sure that they have access to medical care and other facilities like separate wards in hospitals and separate toilets," she adds.

Also see: Proud mom announces son as transgender in beautiful Facebook post

The court also ruled that a public awareness campaign be launched to help combat transphobia, something quite rampant in the country.

Activists hope the ruling will be a step in the right direction in ending all-too-common — but rarely reported — hate crimes against transgender individuals.

Of course, India still has a long way to go when it comes to human rights. The new ruling does not apply to the country's gay, lesbian or bisexual population. In December, the country reinstated a 153-year-old law that criminalized gay sex.

Also see: Woman comes out to her entire family in touching video

Amnesty International hopes the new ruling will encourage the government to repeal the current anti-homosexuality law.

So while transgender people are now protected under the constitution, they are still breaking the law if they have consensual gay sex — and could face up to 10 years in prison.

India isn't the first country to recognize a third gender. Nepal first recognized a third gender in 2007 when its Supreme Court ordered the government to remove all laws that discriminated against sexual orientation or gender identity. Last year, Bangladesh officially recognized a third gender, too.

Also see: Woman's cancer scar photos spark online backlash

Australia and New Zealand both allow citizens to obtain passports with their gender listed as M, F or X.

Last year, Germany became the first European country to allow parents to mark "male," "female" or "indeterminate" on their newborns' birth certificates.

And Sweden recently introduced a gender-neutral pronoun, "hen."

"Things are moving slower than they should at the European level," human rights activist Silvan Agius says. "Though Brussels has ramped up efforts to promote awareness of trans and intersex discrimination, I would like to see things speed up."

Should Canada adopt a third gender, too?