Supreme Court of India, WP, 400 of 2012, National Legal Services Authority vs Union of India and others and WP 604 of 2013 has come out with some guidelines regarding third gender. These are not applicable for the aforesaid wider meaning of the expression transgender. Transgender is the term used as an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to their biological sex.
TG may also take in persons who do not identify with their sex assigned at birth, which include Hijras/Eunuchs who describe themselves as “third gender” and they do not identify as either male or female. Hijras can be emasculated (castrated, nirvana) men, non-emasculated men (not castrated/akva/akka) and inter-sexed persons (hermaphrodites). TG also includes persons who intend to undergo Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) or have undergone SRS to align their biological sex…
