The Transgender Persons (Protection Of Rights) Act, 2019

Abstract

In the context of Indian society, the Transgender community has long been an integral part despite facing persistent exclusion from society. The societal stigma and systemic discrimination tends to continue their marginalization which restricts their access to essential services and opportunities like education, healthcare, employment, etc. Following the Supreme Court judgment in National Legal Services Authority V Union of India (2014), parliament has enacted The Transgender Persons (protection of Rights) Act, 2019 with an objective to protect the transgender community and to ensure the effective realization of their fundamental rights. But, despite this enactment the significant challenges relating to their socio- legal empowerment continued to persist. Thus this paper critically examines the 2019 act with reference to the key provisions relating to legal recognition, protection of the transgender community and further explores the challenges involved in institutionalizing their rights. The paper concludes that legislative measure alone is insufficient to secure their rights as it requires effective implementation, strong enforcement mechanism, greater institutional support and societal acceptance to achieve substantial equality.