India rolls back trans rights with draconian amendment

A draconian bill for trans rights in India has passed through the Lok Sabha on Tuesday 24 March 2025 the and Rajya Sabha on Wednesday 25 March. Swift and damning condemnation has followed from opposition parties and civil society groups. Trans rights have seen global backsliding in recent years, including in the UK.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill 2026 will become law following the President’s assent.

The Hindu reported that the bill:

proposes to remove transgender people’s right to self-determination of gender, and introduces a clause for examination by a medical board to determine their gender.

Rolling back basic rights

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition party Indian National Congress, said that his party unequivocally opposed the bill, calling it a “brazen attack on the Constitutional rights and identity of transgender people.”

The BJP government’s Transgender Persons Amendment Bill is a brazen attack on the Constitutional rights and identity of transgender people.

This regressive bill:
– strips transgender people of their ability to self identify, violating a Supreme Court judgement
– ⁠wipes out the… pic.twitter.com/et6lqpgTXw

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 24, 2026

Mahua Moitra, Lok Sabha MP of another opposition party – All India Trinamool Congress – said that the bill stigmatized trans people and bemoaned the lack of consultation with trans people:

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A post shared by Mahua Moitra – মহুয়া মৈত্র (@mahuamoitraofficial)

Article14, a newswire, published an opinion piece condemning the bill, arguing that rather than being a simple amendment, it represents a devastating erasure of rights for trans, non-binary, and intersex individuals.

This isn’t an amendment—it’s erasure

The transgender rights amendment bill strips away the right to self-identify and pushes trans, non-binary, and intersex people back by decades, @mridulasee writes of the panic & fearhttps://t.co/6PVGzZ4kWH

— Article 14 (@Article14live) March 25, 2026

Satya Rai Nagpaul, founder of Sampoorna, described the situation as stemming from an “existential panic,” adding that this mindset extends beyond the bill into national policy.

Satya Rai Nagpaul, founder of Sampoorna:

“All of this comes from an existential panic. This mindset isn’t just in this bill — it exists in national policy.”

“Disenfranchisement and delegitimisation are happening everywhere.” pic.twitter.com/c32BMPCeqq

— newslaundry (@newslaundry) March 25, 2026

The bill was passed by both houses of the Indian parliament despite legal advice against it.

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A post shared by Safe Access | LGBTQ+ Healthcare India (@safeaccess.co.in)

‘Dark day for India’

A Supreme Court-appointed Advisory Committee, led by former Delhi High Court judge Justice Asha Menon, urged the Centre to withdraw the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, according to the Free Press Journal. The panel said the proposed changes undermine the landmark NALSA v Union of India ruling, which recognised the right to self-identify one’s gender.

The group “Yes, We Exist” called Wednesday a “dark day for India.”