LGBTQI people take to streets against proposed Bill

Activists say govt is trying to dictate how transgenders should live

Protest organised by transgenders near the Raj Bhavan on Sunday.

Clad in eye-catching outfits and shouting ‘my body my right’ in unison, the Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual Transgender Queer Intersex (LGBTQI) community activists held a protest march to the Raj Bhavan here on Sunday.

The march was against the Transgender Persons (Protection Of Rights) Bill 2016 which is likely to be tabled in the winter session of the Parliament.

In solidarity

“Through this Bill, the government is trying to dictate how transgenders should live and it is a violation of our human rights,” said Shrikutty, president of the Sexual and Gender Minority Federation Kerala (SGMFK). The march was in solidarity with the protest march organised by the community in front of Parliament on Sunday.

‘Wrong definition’

The Bill, they say, does not even correctly define transgenders, and takes away the ‘right to self-determination’ granted by the Supreme Court judgement in 2014. According to the proposed Bill, a screening committee will decide the identity of transgenders. Community members vehemently opposed this provision, saying they will not strip in front of a committee to prove their gender. They say the government has wrongly clubbed the definitions of intersex and transgender in the Bill, said Anil Chilla, member of State Transgender Justice Board.

‘Ban on beggary’

The provision criminalising beggary by transgenders will make earning a living difficult for many in the absence of any rehabilitation measures from the government, the activists say.

They called for reservation in education and jobs for transgenders.

Human rights activist and advocate Maya Krishnan said even though Kerala had its own transgender policy, it would have to implement the Act if it is passed. The community members sang a folk song together before dispersing.