Jayna Kothari, Executive Director at CLPR and Advocate, Supreme Court of India, writes in The Hindu. In this article, she examines Navtej Johar judgment’s special relevance for transgender rights: the contributions of the trans community to this outcome and how the judgment takes transgender rights forward.
The decriminalisation of homosexuality in the Navtej Johar judgment holds special relevance for transgender rights. Not only was Section 377 used disproportionately against transgender persons, the legal battle also took a new and positive turn from 2014 after the Supreme Court recognised the right to gender identity in NALSA v. Union of India. Therefore, it is only fitting that we bestow some attention to the contributions of the trans community to this outcome and examine how the judgment takes transgender rights forward.