UN Human Rights has raised concerns that the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026 could undermine hard-won rights.
The amendments replace self-identification with mandatory medical verification and exclude sexual minorities like gays and lesbians from its ambit.
Passed by both Houses of Parliament and assented to by Droupadi Murmu, the law has drawn sharp criticism from opposition leaders over its potential impact on privacy and marginalisation.
UN flags concerns over India’s Transgender Amendment Law, warns of rollback in rights
Global rights body criticises lack of consultation and shift away from self-identification as Parliament clears controversial amendments
Summary
The UN Human Rights on Thursday expressed concern over the passage of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, saying it may undermine hard-won rights of transgender people.
In a post on X, the UN Human Rights said it regretted the swift passage of the bill without adequate consultation with stakeholders.
"We regret fast passage of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, without adequate stakeholder consultation," it said.
"The amendments risk setting back hard-won rights of transgender people, replacing self-identification with mandatory medical verification processes," it said.
The UN Human Rights said India has been a pioneer in recognising the rights of transgender and gender-diverse people.
"India has been a pioneer for rights of transgender & gender-diverse people. This Bill will have far-reaching impacts on right to privacy & risk marginalisation of transgender people," the UN Human Rights added.
President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Bill on March 30. The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Bill, after the Lok Sabha cleared the legislation.
Opposition MPs had slammed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, for excluding gays and lesbians from its ambit.
According to a law ministry notification dated March 30, the amended law will come into effect on a date appointed by the central government through a notification in the official gazette.
During debates in both Houses of Parliament, while the government said the objective is to protect transgender persons, the opposition slammed the proposed legislation alleging that it took away the right to self-determination of identity, such as gay and lesbian individuals, and demanded that it be sent to a standing committee for proper consultations.
The bill seeks to give a precise definition of the term "transgender" and exclude "different sexual orientations and self-perceived sexual identities" from the ambit of the proposed law. It underlines that a transgender person "shall not include, nor shall ever have been so included, persons with different sexual orientations and self-perceived sexual identities".
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"The intent, object and purpose of the act is and was to protect a specified class of persons socially and culturally known as transgender people who face societal discrimination of an extreme and oppressive nature. The purpose was and is not to protect each and every class of persons with various gender identities, self-perceived sex/gender identities or gender fluidities," the bill says.
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