India has a new trans rights law - and it’s sparked protests

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  Hey, I'm Iqra, this is What's in the World from the BBC World Service.

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  In India, a law has been changed which affects how transgender people are legally recognized

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  and their right to choose their gender.

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  The government says this legislation is meant to protect vulnerable groups from being exploited,

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  but some say it's a step backwards for trans rights.

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  This is pure criminalization.

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  The Trans Bill 2026 does not belong to the 21st century world.

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  When you take away the right to self-determination, the only procedure becomes for medical determination of gender.

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  So in this episode, we're going to look at the law in more detail,

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  find out how it impacts India's third gender community and why people have been protesting.

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  Okay, so let's find out a bit more.

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  Anahita Sachdev is a BBC journalist based in Delhi and she's on the line right now.

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  Hi, Anahita.

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  Hi, Iqra. Thanks for having me.

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  Of course. And before we get into this new bill,

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  I want to first go back in history a bit

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  because I think it will help listeners understand a bit of the context to this story.

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  Third gender people have actually been part of Indian society for thousands of years, right?

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  Yes. In the cultural fabric of the Indian subcontinent, we've had people who choose to fall outside of the gender binary,

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  what we understand as male and female.

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