Telangana: Schools, varsities deny rights of transgenders

Hyderabad: A three-year-old judgement by the Supreme Court in a NALSA case was hailed as a landmark as it assured transgenders equal rights under the Constitution. After the judgement, transgenders believed that the discrimination they faced would come to an end.

However, leading schools and colleges are yet to accept them as another gender despite the fact that it has the country’s highest court’s approval.

Tashi Choedup, a transgender activist, said, “The NALSA judgment had assured transgenders that they can live their lives with the gender they choose to identify themselves with. However our society is still stuck on the binary gender, especially educational institutions. Schools and colleges continue to turn a deaf ear to transgenders’ rights.”

The recent case of a transgender student from Delhi University who filed a legal suit because of the problems he had to face while changing his name and gender in his educational records has sparked a debate on the lack of recognition given to transgenders in educational spaces. “The person need not have gone through a sex change to change his gender in the records according to the NALSA judgement. He just needs to identify himself with a gender and can apply for the same. But the process of obtaining a change in gender is even more difficult and bureaucratic than a change in name. Often legal help is needed which is not provided due to social stigma”, says Tashi.

The process of changing one’s gender is not any easier in Telangana state. Vyjayanti Vasamta Mogli, a transgender activist, said, “It is still a struggle to change one’s gender. I had applied for a name and gender change and it is a process that gives one a headache. The NALSA judgement should make things smoother but people have to keep filing RTIs and writ petitions to find out about their applications. My gender has not yet been changed.”