On 26 November, 2019, the Rajya Sabha passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019, ignoring opposition from the transgender community and demands from multiple MPs to have the bill reviewed and amended by a select committee.

The process of bringing about legislation to protect the rights of the transgender community started with Tiruchi Siva’s private member's bill in 2014, which gave the community real hope of positive change. The government shelved this bill in favour of a series of badly written bills that have retracted all the assurances and claims that were previously promised.

The trans community resisted these bills and sought to have its voice heard. We resisted on the streets, on social media, and on every platform, we could find, in an attempt to correct the misguided provisions of the bills. We were ignored. The bill was still passed in the Lok Sabha in December 2018. There was a brief moment of hope when the bill lapsed due to the impending general election. But that hope proved shortlived.

On 5 August 2019, the Lok Sabha passed the Transgender (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019. The bill not made available to the public and affected communities until the day it was due to be tabled in the Lok Sabha. The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha last week and now awaits the president’s assent before it becomes law. The government has projected the bill as a progressive measure that aims to uplift an oppressed community. However, the reality is that it contains several measures that will work to the detriment of the people it hopes to protect.

Rachana Mudraboyina, a trans activist described it as the entire process as rightly said, "A convolution of a law that would do nothing for the trans community and would rather snatch away the bare minimum that existed.” Read more via First Post