SC flags ‘apathetic attitude’ of Centre, states to integrate trans persons into society, forms panel

The Supreme Court on Friday expressed concern about the “grossly apathetic attitude” shown by the Centre and the state governments towards integrating transgender persons into the mainstream and formed a committee to formulate a national equal opportunity policy, The Hindu reported.

Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan were hearing a petition filed by a transwoman who alleged that she had been discriminated against and terminated from her services from a school in Uttar Pradesh in December 2022 and another one in Gujarat in July 2023 because of her gender identity.

The court directed the Union government, the Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat governments, and the school in Gujarat, to pay Rs 50,000 each to the petitioner for discriminating against her, PTI reported.

The bench observed that the 2019 Rights of Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Act and the 2020 Rights of Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Rules had been “brutishly reduced to dead letters”.

It added that the transgender community continued to face discrimination and marginalisation, with a scarcity of healthcare, economic opportunities and non-inclusive educational policies adding to their struggles.

The court also referred to its 2014 judgement in the National Legal Services Authority v Union of India matter, or NALSA case, which had formally created the “third gender” category for transgenders that recognised them as a...

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