Transforming Rights: How Law Shapes Transgender Lives, identity and Community in India

India's rapid transformation in transgender rights has few global parallels. From the recognition of gender self-determination to the decriminalisation of same-sex relations, courts have set out a framework that guarantees dignity, autonomy and equal protection under the law. Yet the lived reality of the trans community continues to be marked by exclusion, discrimination, violence and the daily fight for even basic rights like access to education, healthcare, employment and shelter. Transforming Rights confronts this contradiction head-on.
Edited by Jayna Kothari, Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court and a leading practitioner in gender and equality law, this volume brings together scholars, activists, lawyers, policy researchers and community members whose work engages directly with transgender rights and the wider LGBTQIA+ community. The chapters explore constitutional protections, the demand for reservations, questions of intimacy and family, public attitudes, access to higher education and livelihood, structural exclusion and the intersection of trans activism with caste and indigeneity.
Drawing on legal, social and community-based perspectives, the collection identifies the progress made, the challenges that persist and the reforms necessary to realise equal protection for transgender persons in India.