Rajasthan HC orders transgender to be identified as male after sex reassignment surgery

The Rajasthan High Court has upheld the right of a transgender person to be identified as a "male" who has undergone sex reassignment surgery, stating: "The right of a human being to choose his or her sex or gender identity is an integral part of his or her personhood and is one of the most fundamental aspects of self-determination, dignity and freedom".

Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand opined that "until recently we considered male and female as two biological sexes, but advanced science has proven that there are more genders than just cisgender" and trans-gender should be treated equally. The judgment of the court is based on the proposal of a person who was born as a woman and worked as a physical education instructor at a school. After the reassignment operation, he wanted to be marked as male in his service records.

The petitioner claimed that he suffered from a gender identity disorder and to correct this, he underwent sex reassignment surgery to become a man from a woman. After the operation, the petitioner even had two children from the marriage and identified as male, but the school management refused to change his gender.

Justice Dhand quoted from the ancient Hindu text Rigveda: "According to Rigveda three types of genders were considered in Hindu mythology - Male that is 'Purush', Female which is 'Prakriti' and the third gender which is 'Tritiya Prakriti'." “In recent times, modern Indian society has considered them as a third gender, otherwise they have not been legally given such an identity. Still, all is not well and transgender people are trying to form part of civil society," said the judge.

The High Court directed the authorities to change the petitioner's gender in the service records within 60 days and also directed the Chief Secretary of Rajasthan to set up a Grievance Redressal Mechanism Forum in each district of the state to deal with complaints regarding violations. transgender law.

According to the Transgender Act, 2019, a transgender person has the right to be recognized not only as transgender, but also gives them the right to a self-perceived gender identity.