India's Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Transsexual Self-Identity

“In a ruling that human rights groups are calling historic, India's Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the country's transsexual and transgender individuals the right to self-identify their gender. The ruling means transsexual and transgender people and those who identify as belonging to the ‘third gender’ will not be required to submit medical evidence of their sexuality to be recognized by the government as a member of that gender, said Tripti Tandon, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs. A plea was filed before the Supreme Court by India's National Legal Services Authority in 2012 on behalf of the transsexual and ‘hijra,’ or third-gender, communities. ‘The Supreme Court ruled that everyone has the fundamental right to have their gender identified and recognized in the law without any discrimination,’ Tandon said. ‘And it's self-identification of the gender as opposed to medically or surgically assigned one.’... The ruling states that ‘gender identity is integral to the dignity of an individual and is at the core of personal autonomy and self-determination.’ Hijras, the ruling said, must be considered a third gender ‘over and above binary genders under our Constitution and the laws.’”

(“Indian Court Recognizes Gender Self-identification,” CNN, April 16, 2014)

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