Lok Sabha Bill redefines transgender, excludes sexual orientation

New Delhi: A bill introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday sought to clarify the legal definition of transgender persons and proposed graded punishments for serious crimes against them, while specifying that individuals with different sexual orientations or self-perceived sexual identities would not be included in the definition.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026 was introduced by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar. It stated that a transgender person "shall not include, nor shall ever have been so included, persons with different sexual orientations and self-perceived sexual identities".

The bill aimed to provide a clearer legal definition to ensure proper identification of transgender persons and that benefits under the law reach the intended group.


It noted that the existing Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 prohibits discrimination and abuse but prescribes only a general penal provision with a maximum punishment of two years' imprisonment, which it said does not adequately address offences of "exceptional gravity".

To address this gap, the amendment proposed specific offences with graded punishments, particularly in cases involving abduction, mutilation, emasculation, castration, hormone or chemical alteration, and the forced assumption of a transgender identity, especially when children are victims.

The bill defined transgender persons as those with socio-cultural identities such as kinner, hijra, aravani and jogta, as well as eunuchs, persons with intersex variations, or individuals with congenital differences in sex characteristics compared with male or female development.