India, March 17 -- The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, introduced in the Lok Sabha, proposes to limit the definition of transgender person, undoing years of activism, judicial pronouncements, and legislative action. The problem lies in the suspicion of self-perceived gender identity. In NALSA v Union of India, the Supreme Court protected gender identity under Article 21 of the Constitution (dignity and autonomy): It held that "gender identity refers to each person's deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth. It refers to an individual's self-identification as a man, woman, transgender or other identified category". The Bill unse...