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New Bill: Transgenders from Chennai join rally in Delhi
The Chennai transgender community has joined the national call for action against the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016, that is to be tabled in the parliament in the upcoming session.
Chennai
Transgender people and LGBTQI activists across India have termed the bill ‘regressive’ and ‘offensive’ to their rights – and a national protest march at Parliament Street on December 17 has been planned. After the fight against Section 377, this is the biggest battle the LGBTQI community in India has united for. Activists, welfare groups and students are all expected to join in the debate, and Chennaiites are also expected to be part of it.
“The Bill is really confused about many things and sets us back on so many counts – for instance, even the definition - it defines transgender among other things as “neither wholly female nor wholly male nor a combination of female nor male” and combines intersex with transgender. That is ridiculous! There is also no provision for job opportunities as well. At least the earlier attempt at legislation - The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014, which was introduced as a Private Member’s Bill in the Rajya Sabha by DMK MP Tiruchi Siva made sense on some level, despite its flaws,” rues Jaya, General Manager of Sahodaran, the social welfare organisation in the city.
Many other facets of the bill find opposition – from experts issuing certificates to transgender people, based on an exam (a contrast to the 2014 Bill which gave individuals the right to self-identify their sex) and a lack of security welfare for the community. Sasha Reddy, activist and director of Chennai Dost, says that many members in the community are upset at their ‘traditions’ not being paid heed to - “Many of them believe that blessing people for good luck, dancing and attending a wedding is like a profession for them. But now, it constitutes to begging and they can be jailed! This is something that has been passed down in the community for generations, and has to be continued.”
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