The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2018 has passed in the the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) and is due to face the Rajya Subha (upper house) tomorrow, 8 January.

While its name suggests the Bill is a protection of rights for transgender people, the rights of both transgender and intersex communities will be severly dialed back if it is to pass, say trans groups.

It's a Bill that "faces unanimous opposition from all trans people", Meera Sanghamitra of the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) and Telangana Hijra Intersex Transgender Samiti (THITS) wrote on Twitter.

We want Education , Employment, Livelihoods, Health Rights, Anti-Discrimination, Right to Self-Identify Gender, Non-criminalization of Begging - Lok Sabha Bill provides nothing. Please send Trans Bill to Select Committee of @RajyaSabha #RightsNotRehabilitation #StopTransBill2018 pic.twitter.com/Uf5sop14nO
— Meera Sanghamitra (@meeracomposes) January 4, 2019

Various iterations of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill have been drafted since 2014, with public imput from transgender and intersex communities, but the 2018 Bill includes 27 amendments that ignores that community feedback.

Its passing in the lower house caused thousands of people to take to the streets across India in protest, with groups converging on Parliament Street in Delhi on 28 December.

Members of communities all across the country came to Delhi from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, W. Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.

Take this article for example.
Delhi Police is planning to provide skills training to 'kinnar' community and get them employed. & that they 'won't be allowed to roam on streets' and 'cause law and order problems'. Very problematic & patronizing tone.#StopTransBill2018 pic.twitter.com/Y32cGU2StJ
— Genderlog (@genderlogindia) January 8, 2019

The hashtag #Stoptransbill2018 is now abuzz on social media as activists continue to raise public awareness and urge for the Bill not to "move an inch" more. Read more via RNZ