Third Sex Status

VERDICT\\ Supreme Court on April 15, 2014, recognised the country’s long marginalised transgender community as the third gender. In a landmark judgment— lauded by human rights groups—the apex court called on the government to ensure their equal treatment. A bench of Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice A.K. Sikri directed central and state governments to grant recognition to transgenders as a separate third category of gender. The panel also added that if a person can be legally recognised as gender-neutral, then transgenders should be included in government welfare schemes offered to other minority groups. Because transgenders are not legally recognised in India, they are ostracised, discriminated against, abused and often forced into prostitution. Often known as hijras in South Asia, transgenders are classified as people who have had sex change operations or who regard themselves as the opposite of their born gender.

After the milestone verdict, 53-year-old Bharathi Kannamma of Madurai decided to run as an Independent candidate. She is thought to be the first transgender accepted as a candidate in a General Elections. The social activist said, “When transgenders make an economic contribution to their families, families will hesitate to shun them,” she said. Kannamma herself only came out in 2004 as a transgender. Until then, she lived her life as a man.