NEW DELHI, Dec 2 (Openly) - India's transgender community took to social media on Monday to urge the president to stop a bill that aimed to protect them, concerned it required them to register to be legally deemed trans and failed to crackdown on sexual abuse. Tagging the president's Twitter handle and using #StopTransBill2019, trans people, campaigners and supporters tweeted against the Transgender Persons Bill, which was passed by parliament last week amid protests.

To become law it now needs to be signed by President Ramnath Kovind, who holds a largely ceremonial position with few bills vetoed in the past. "(The bill) is high on rhetoric & low on real commitment towards justice," tweeted Meera Sanghamitra, a trans woman and activist from the National Alliance of People's Movements.

The trans community called for the bill to be sent back to parliament for review and a comprehensive law based on their recommendations be passed.

India's Supreme Court gave transgender people "third gender" recognition in 2014 but they are often shunned by their families and confined to the margins of society, forcing them to resort to begging or sex work to survive. A 2011 census recorded half a million transgender people in India but campaigners estimate the number at about 2 million. Less than half are literate and even fewer have jobs, according to the census. Read more via Openly