New Delhi, April 4 -- On 30 March, Droupadi Murmu, the President of India, gave her assent to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, thereby legitimising a law that has caused widespread concern and protest among members of the queer community.

Tabled by Union social justice and empowerment minister Virendra Kumar on 13 March in the Lok Sabha, the bill was drafted without consultation with the queer community, especially its trans members, whose lives are likely to be most affected by its ramifications. The 2026 law departs from the Supreme Court's judgement in the NALSA case (2014), which allowed for self-determination as the basis of identity, as well as the 2019 Act, which medicalised identity while still...