India, Nov. 2 -- A contentious and deeply divisive debate over the difference between sex and gender identity officially landed at India's Supreme Court last week. A petition filed by the India branch of Women's Declaration International (WDII) brings to the fore the basic question of identity that is roiling the gender debate in the West.

It argues that sex is binary and cannot be altered through any means-not surgery, not hormones and certainly not self-identification.

It insists that legal recognition of gender identity cannot entitle a person to the constitutional and statutory protections provided to women. Citing examples from Kerala where two transgender women contested panchayat elections for seats reserved for women, the petiti...