Leaders of transgender community from across the State on Saturday demanded amendments to The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 and said it lacked understanding of the issues faced by the community.
At a press meet, community leaders said the Bill demonstrated a lack of understanding of who transgenders were, had put blocks in the process of self determination, did not make provisions for reservation in education and employment, and instead of promoting education, employment and political participation, it classified begging as a punishable offence. The leaders also spoke of the clause in the Bill that puts community elders under undue risk and said familial, social and political conditions that affected them had not been taken into consideration. “We want this Bill to be scrapped, for consultations to be held with grassroots leaders and for a new Bill to be drafted,” a leader said.
