Context:

The High Court of Karnataka recently issued a directive to the Registrar of Births and Deaths of Mangaluru City Corporation to issue revised or modified birth and death certificates for transgender persons. 

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• These revised certificates will reflect the present name and gender of the individual while also indicating both the earlier and current name and gender.
• This step is being taken until amendments are made to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, which does not currently provide provisions to revise birth or death certificates to change gender.

Background of the Case

• A 34-year-old transgender woman, who had undergone gender reassignment surgery, wanted to update her name and gender on her birth certificate.
• The Registrar of Births and Deaths in Mangaluru denied her request because the current law (Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969) does not allow changes in gender on original certificates.

What has the Karnataka High Court said?

The Registrar of Births and Deaths has been directed to issue revised certificates for transgender persons until necessary changes are made to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969.

• The new certificates will list both previous and current gender along with the new name following gender reassignment.

The court acknowledged that the rejection of the petitioner’s application by the Registrar was contrary to the rights guaranteed under the Transgender Act.

• However, the court noted that the authorities were unable to act due to the lack of relevant provisions in the 1969 Act.

The court asked the Law Commission of Karnataka to review the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 and suggest amendments to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 to align it with the provisions of the Transgender Act.

The court stated that The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 allows transgender persons to change their name and gender in official documents after undergoing sex-reassignment processes but the 1969 Act currently has no provision for revising the birth certificate based on the certificate issued by the competent authority under the Transgender Act.

Schemes being implemented for the welfare of transgender

National Council for Transgender Persons:

• Advises the government on transgender policies and laws.
• Monitors policy implementation and coordinates with departments.

SMILE Scheme:

• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) launched this umbrella scheme “SMILE - Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise.”
• Provides support for livelihood, skill development, health, shelters (Garima Grehs), and protection cells.

National Portal for Transgender Persons:

• The MoSJE launched this Portal in November 2020. 
• The Portal provides the facility for transgender persons to apply for a certificate and an identity card from across the country without a physical interface through a seamless end-to-end mechanism.

Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019

• The act seeks to mitigate the stigma, discrimination, and abuse against this marginalized section and bring them into the mainstream of society. 
• The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 defines “Transgender person”, as a person whose gender does not match the gender assigned to that person at birth and includes trans-man or trans-woman (whether or not such person has undergone Sex Reassignment Surgery or hormone therapy or laser therapy or such other therapy), person with intersex variations, genderqueer and person having such socio-cultural identities as kinner, hijra, aravani and jogta.

Provisions: 

• No person or establishment shall discriminate against a transgender person in sectors such as education, employment and healthcare etc., 
• Recognition of the identity of transgender persons by obtaining a certificate of identity from the District Magistrate and a revised certificate is to be obtained if sex is changed. 
• Provision for setting up of National Council for Transgender Persons. 
• Penal provisions for offences against Transgender Persons.