In a landmark ruling on Tuesday, the Supreme Court of India recognized transgender people as belonging to a third gender and directed the central and state governments to give full legal recognition to them, the Press Trust of India reported.
The top court was responding to a public interest lawsuit filed by the National Legal Services Authority, which provides free legal services to the poor and disadvantaged.
The group had argued that treating transgender people as legal nonentities, unable to apply for official identification documents, meant that they were deprived of basic human rights.
The court agreed with the organization and added that governments must treat the transgender community as a minority group that should be provided with adequate access to health care and employment so that transgender people can become part of mainstream society.
For decades, the transgender community in India has been widely ostracized and excluded from traditional social life, so activists who work with the community were overjoyed with the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“I am so happy,” said Anjali Gopalan, founder and executive director of the Naz Foundation, a nonprofit group that has been working in the fields of H.I.V./AIDS awareness and transgender rights.
“It is a progressive judgment, and it has a far-reaching consensus,” Ms. Gopalan added.
Colin Gonsalves, a lawyer who has been fighting cases for the transgender community, called the judgment “extraordinary.”
“It comes after decades of pursuit,” Mr. Gonsalves said. “It is the first step toward recognizing the transgender community as a third sex.”
Mr. Gonsalves added that this judgment was like a “breath of fresh air” after the Supreme Court’s ruling in December that criminalized gay sex under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
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