Amendment to transgender bill introduced to impose stricter penalty on offences against community

New Delhi: Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar on Friday introduced an amendment to the transgender bill, to redefine “transgender” and to impose stricter penalty on offences against the community.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026 was introduced in the Lok Sabha without a mention in the revised list of business.

It proposes two key changes: revising the definition of who qualifies as a transgender person under the law, and introducing graded punishments for offences committed against them.

As per the amended definition of transgender, persons with socio cultural identities such as kinner, hijra, aravani, jogta and eunuch, as well as persons with intersex variations such as congenital variations in primary sexual characteristics, genitalia, chromosomal patterns, gonadal development or hormone production will be considered transgender.

Additionally, individuals that face multiplication, emasculation, castration, surgical, chemical or hormonal procedures to outwardly present a transgender identity will also be defined as transgender.

However, in a move that will affect several in the LGBTQI community, the amendment bill does not recognise those with different sexual orientations or self perceived sexual identities.

The Bill’s Statement of Objects and Reasons, states that only those transgender persons who face “severe social exclusion due to biological reasons” will be recognised and not “each and every class of persons with various gender identities or self perceived gender identities”.

The introduction of the bill follows national consultations held by the National Human Rights Commission and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on improving implementation of the 2019 law, and the constitution of an advisory committee headed by Justice Asha Menon in October 2025 to review issues related to the Act.

The 2019 Act has faced sustained scrutiny, with activists contending that requiring a certificate of identity issued by a district magistrate creates unnecessary bureaucratic barriers, and that penalties for crimes against transgender persons remain weaker than those prescribed for offences against cisgender women. The amendment attempts to address the latter through graded sentencing.