New Delhi, March 24 The Lok Sabha passed a bill on Tuesday to amend a law protecting and granting rights to transgender persons, despite concerns raised by opposition members that the proposed legislation excludes social orientations from its scope.
Responding to the debate on the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar stated that the proposed legislation aims to protect individuals facing discrimination due to biological factors.
He asserted that the amendment will ensure that transgender persons continue to receive legal recognition and protection.
Kumar said that while the 2019 law had a maximum imprisonment of two years, the amendment bill provides for a maximum of 14 years in jail with a penalty.
Before the passage of the bill, the House also rejected amendments proposed by opposition members through a voice vote.
While the government stated that the objective is to provide protection to such individuals, the opposition criticized the proposed legislation for taking away the right to self-determination of identity, such as for gay and lesbian individuals, and demanded that it be sent to a standing committee for thorough consultations.
The bill seeks to define the term "transgender" precisely and exclude "different sexual orientations and self-perceived sexual identities" from the scope of the proposed law, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha earlier this month.
It emphasizes that a transgender person "shall not include, nor shall ever have been so included, persons with different sexual orientations and self-perceived sexual identities."
"The intent, objective, and purpose of the Act is and was to protect a specified class of persons socially and culturally known as transgender people who face extreme and oppressive societal discrimination," the bill states.
"The purpose was and is not to protect each and every class of persons with various gender identities, self-perceived sex/gender identities, or gender fluidity," the bill says.
The bill notes that it is imperative to provide a precise definition for proper and definitive identification and protection of transgender persons, to whom the benefits of the present law must reach.
The bill also contains provisions for "designating an authority," which will have the option to seek "expert advice" if required.
A new clause defines "authority" as a medical board headed by a chief medical officer or a deputy chief medical officer appointed by the central government, state government, or a Union territory administration.
The bill notes that over time, during the implementation of transgender protection law, "certain doubts and difficulties have arisen and are likely to arise" regarding the "scope of the definition" of transpersons.
It inserts a new sub-clause to define a transperson as one having socio-cultural identities as 'kinner', 'hijra', 'aravani' and 'jogta', or eunuch, or a person with intersex variations or a person who, at birth, has a congenital variation in one or more sex characteristics as compared to male or female.
The bill proposes to create specific offenses with graded punishments that reflect the severity of the harm, the irreversibility of the injury, and the particular vulnerability of child victims.
Earlier, participating in the debate, Congress MP Jyothimani said the bill has been brought without consultations from transgender people and shows the government's "callous" attitude.
She said Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi have listened to transgender people and deeply understand what they feel.
Jyothimani asserted that this bill is not a reform.
A Supreme Court judgement has recognised that gender identity is a matter of self determination.
"It is affirmed that dignity, bodily autonomy, identity are protected under Article 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution," she said.
The Congress MP criticised the provision of bringing a medical board for identity determination and claimed that the bill narrows the definition of transgender.
"This is not democracy but a monologue of power, which is the trademark of the Modi government," Jyothimani alleged.
The bill must be referred to a standing committee for comprehensive consultations with the transgender people, she asserted.
Samajwadi Party's Anand Bhadauria also opposed the proposed legislation and asked if the bill is for the welfare of transgender people, as the government claims, then why are they opposing this bill on the streets.
He pointed out that it was the SP that established the 'Samajwadi kinnar sabha' within its organisational ambit.
"The BJP wants to make people stand in queue. Now, you want to make transgender people stand in line for their identity," he said, adding that the bill gives a limited definition of transgender people.
"It is unfair exclusion and is not based on constitutional principles," he said.
DMK's T Sumathy also slammed the government for allegedly interfering with the right to self-determination of identity.
"This government treats the transgender community as subjects to be corrected, which is highly condemnable... the DMK rejects the bill. The government should withdraw the bill and at the least send it to the standing committee of Parliament," she said, calling the bill "draconian".