Bollywood movie highlights the plight of India’s transgender people

NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in 2019 that all laws enacted during the British Raj should be enacted in accordance with modern norms and with due consideration and consideration in the interest of society. Stated. The government introduced a bill this year to amend India’s penal code, but the measures are not comprehensive.

On August 11, Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the People’s Republic of India Bill, 2023, the People’s Republic of India Nagarik Suraksha Samhita Bill, 2023, and the Bharatiya Janata Party Saksha Bill, 2023 in the Lower House of the Indian Parliament, the lower house of the Indian Parliament. The three bills will replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

Introducing the bill, Prime Minister Shah said the three laws strengthen and protect British rule and their purpose is to punish, not to dispense justice.

“The core of the three new laws is to protect all the rights given to the people of India by the Constitution, and their purpose is to provide justice rather than punish,” Shah said. “These three laws of his, crafted with an Indian thought process, will bring major changes to our criminal justice system.”

While introducing the bill, Shah also said that the government has taken a very principled decision to put the people at the center and not the governance. However, these laws are still not comprehensive.

Chapter 5 of the Revised Sentencing Bill, which deals with crimes against women and children, makes no mention of people who do not fit into specific categories, and ignores LGBTQ+ and intersex rights.

Article 63 of the law still defines rape as the sexual assault of a woman by a man, continuing to uphold gender stereotypes. This definition does not allow sexual assault by a man against another man, or by a woman against another woman.

Article 38, another relevant provision of the Penal Bill, stipulates that when an assault is committed for the purpose of satisfying an “unnatural desire” or when the assault voluntarily causes death or other harm to the perpetrator, It also extends the right of private defense to the public. Although the code does not define “unnatural desire,” it is very similar to the now-repealed section 377, which criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations.

In 2018, the Supreme Court decriminalized homosexuality in India and repealed Article 377.

Britain first introduced section 377, which was modeled on the Badgery Act of 1533. In 1838, Thomas Macaulay created a colonial-era law that came into effect in 1860. The Badgery Act defined badgery as an unnatural sexual act that goes against the will of God. And a man.

Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code stipulates that a person who commits an unnatural crime by having voluntary sexual intercourse with a man, woman, or animal against the law of nature shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or any form of imprisonment, or fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 10 years. It is defined as being processed. A fine will also be imposed.

Although Article 377 has been repealed, the new criminal code does not include the LGBTQ+ and intersex communities under the same legal protections available to other people. The new bill makes no mention of LGBTQ+ or intersex people and does not include any protections against violent crimes.

In India, there are no official statistics on crimes against LGBTQ+ and intersex people, including crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

“The wording of the new law has undergone significant positive changes to further include the LGBTQ community. Following the passage of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019, the proposed new criminal law will also be gender-inclusive. language,” said Krishna Deva Rao, vice-chancellor of the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research in Telangana. “For example, the meaning of the term “gender” was expanded in Section 2(9) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita (Act replacing the Indian Penal Code, 1860), and now “gender” is defined by the pronoun “he” and the pronoun “he.” The Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita Penal Code also officially removes the controversial section 377 from the IPC. Did.”

Mr Rao said the government should have done more to address the discriminatory treatment meted out to such marginalized communities.

In an email to the Washington Blade, Rao said that despite the Supreme Court’s landmark NALSA ruling in 2014, the government has yet to give horizontal reservations to the transgender community. , he said.

“Despite the passing of the Transgender Act 2019, community concerns remain unresolved as the penalties prescribed therein are very low. Similarly, the 2014 Supreme Court judgment “Despite providing for self-determination of gender identity without the need for intervention, the 2019 law and related regulations have been interpreted in a manner that mandates surgery,” Rao said. “More recently, in August 2023, the Hyderabad Police came under scrutiny for cracking down on violent acts against beggars. They discriminated against me because I had genitals.”

In a statement on the newly proposed Chapter V of the People’s Republic of India Act, Mr. Rao said the law would address crimes against women and children. Rao added that it should have expanded to include the LGBTQ+ and intersex communities.

“Although Section 377 was struck down by the IPC, following the landmark Navtey Singh Johar judgment of the Supreme Court of India in 2018, this section was partially revised to exclude consensual same-sex relationships. “By completely removing this provision, non-consensual or illegal sexual acts against men and the transgender community will remain completely unaddressed by the new penal code,” Rao said. Stated. “The protective measures of arrest and medical examination under criminal procedure are aimed exclusively at the protection of women. For example, women victims of sexual abuse must undergo medical examination in a prescribed manner, after sunset and at sunrise. Such procedures should be extended to people in the LGBTQ community. Similarly, if a transgender person needs to be tested, the doctor’s gender should be They should be allowed to provide written consent.”

A two-judge Supreme Court judge in the 2014 case NALSA v. Union of India said that transgender people are within the ambit of the Indian Constitution and are therefore entitled to full enjoyment of its rights.

“In a country that once thought of us as a ‘little nation,’ the LGBTQIA+ community has been ignored as a population to be taken into account when exposing the constitution,” said Sappho, an activist forum for lesbians. says Ancana Dei of For Equality. , bisexual women and trans men. “In a 2018 study, the LGBTQIA+ group was one of the least represented out of 12 groups in India in research and law reform. In the context of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita Bill, that also changes for us. However, the LGBTQIA+ movement will continue to fight for rights and representation in legal reform. We will continue to disseminate that information in our approach.”

In an email to the Blade, Mr Day said that every time the Sappho for Equality team is on the ground, it operates along a policy of advocacy and interacts with state legal representatives such as police, lawyers and paralegals. He said he is trying.

“Through these conversations, we realized that the laws that were passed were not well disseminated within our legal representation networks. We don’t know what the protection laws and bills are, or even the mental health laws. The State Legal Services Authority (SALSA) says that anyone from the LGBTQIA+ community who has faced violence or discrimination should seek legal services from the state. “We have made it clear that we have the right to receive it free of charge,” Day said. “Most local residents do not know about these services, but even if they do, financial extortion and intimidation is a serious concern, making access to these services extremely difficult. Lawmakers do not like to be told that their knowledge lacks constructive information, and their work is generally surrounded by misinformation, stigma, and stereotypes about us, so these Some of the dialogue developed into heated conversations. Nevertheless, we remain committed to continuing the fight against illegal activities that negatively impact us. We are passionate about working with lawyers at the local level to raise their awareness of queer and trans* lives and ease of living.”

Day said most of these bills that specifically address transgender people have not been implemented since the 2014 NALSA ruling. She said there was a severe lack of enforcement of these laws at the grassroots level.

“We strongly believe that there is an urgent need to expand the very definition of ‘woman’ with the revised IPC to deal with crimes against women and children,” Day said.

While talking to Blade, Harish IyerThe equal rights activist said she hopes the actual draft will be more inclusive of all genders and sexualities.

“I think culture is not static, it’s evolving. Our laws also evolve from time to time. We’ve created more progressive laws. When it comes to gender and sexuality, I hope that the legal reforms will be more inclusive for all citizens of India,” Iyer said. “It is Indian culture to accept different sexualities. British culture was Section 377 of IPC. If we are going to define a law that is not IPC, it will be essential to follow Indian culture. We will always accept LGBTQI+ We have accepted and respected people.”

Ankush Kumar is a reporter who has covered numerous stories for the Washington Blaze and Los Angeles Blaze from Iran, India and Singapore. he recently reported to The Daily Beast. You can contact him at: (email protected). He is on his Twitter @mohitkopinion.