Each year between November 13th and November 19th, people and organizations around the country participate in Transgender Awareness Week to help raise the visibility of transgender people and address issues members of the community face. Gender ideally should have no linkage to fundamental rights. But for the trans community, this has been the norm for decades rather than an exception. Most national identification cards all over the world, including the US, UK and EU or identifying documents include a gender marker.
The presence of such markers, especially on birth certificates, contribute to our society’s emphasis on gender as a criterion for assigning identities, roles and responsibilities within society. With gender being such a determining and dominant identifier, it puts gender identity at the centre of so many aspects of societal norms and standards. Importantly the same categorisation creates a basis for discrimination and inequality.
The trans community has been recognized as one of the most marginalised communities in India and has been deprived of basic amenities such as education, health care, and employment opportunities. The absence of legal recognition, associated rights and protection lays the community bare and exposed to humiliation, driving many trans persons into the shadows of societal non-acceptance and non-existence.
The importance of a birth certificate is often underestimated. Have you ever thought what are the consequences when your birth certificates and ID documents do not reflect your identity? This is the reality that many transgender people are facing across the world. Ensuring that the birth certificate and ID reflect the preferred name and gender becomes a key part of transitioning. “When your ID does not match your identity, you end up as being irrelevant to the society. You are looked upon as aliens. You are left at the mercy of everyone you interact with, including your family and friends”, said Piya a transwoman from the Delhi NCR.
The world over demand for legal gender recognition has pushed many governments into a moral panic mode. The Trans Legal Mapping Report is a research project by ILGA World which shows de facto criminalisation of trans people under laws is present in 37 countries. But it is a crucial fight. Trans persons continue to struggle with this fundamental right. As the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights has stated, “It is clear that many transgender persons do not fully enjoy their fundamental rights both at the level of legal guarantees and that of everyday life.”
In this context, having a centralised legal avenue for resolution can become life-changing.
The Indian government upheld this sentiment and recognised this basic need. The National Portal for Transgenders was set up and the thought behind its genesis was to ensure that transgender communities are to be included, and rights to privacy, free expression, and dignity are to be upheld. It is through the set-up of this portal the confidence of the community has solidified the relationship with the government which is just one of the many in a series of positive affirming policies and initiatives that have come into place under the stewardship of Prime Minister Modi.
The National Portal for Transgenders in 2020 by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment for getting Transgender Certificate and Identity Cards and is an important provision of The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Recognizing this need as a critical and most fundamental first step the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment set up the National Portal for Transgenders. The portal allows trans persons to get Transgender Certificate and Identity Cards as per their self-perceived identity, which is an important provision of The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Transgender ID Card Application Form 2021 is now available at the official website transgender.dosje.gov.in.
The most important benefit is that it helps the transgender person to get the I-Card without any physical interface and without having to visit any office. Through the Portal, they can monitor the status of their application ensuring transparency in the process.
The portal is now available in Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, apart from English. The portal will also enable trans persons to register their grievances and help build a database of the community.
“Doors to education, social welfare schemes, health, employment, bank accounts and housing are based on I-Cards and documents”, said Ravi Mishra a counsellor who works closely with the trans community. He further said, “Many people did not think they would one day they would be able to live their trans identity socially and legally but the portal has shown them it is possible.”
