The lower house of the bicameral parliament in India, the Lok Sabha, has passed a bill which seeks to introduce restrictions on who can identify as trans. It will now go before the Rajya Sabha, after which the president can approve it.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill 2026 is a significant rollback on the rights of trans Indian people to self-identification, which had previously been guaranteed in 2014. Under the new bill, should it pass its final stage, trans people in India would have to go before a medical board. This board will then advise the district magistrate, who will have the final say on whether the trans person can obtain a new ID card.

In addition to the new process for updating official documents, the amendment also increases the maximum penalty for those convicted of causing harm to trans people from two years to 14 years. MP Virendra Kumar, India’s Social Justice and Employment Mini said that the pairing of tougher penalties with increased restrictions on expression of gender identity was required so that “only those who face social boycott due to biological issues” are protected.

He told India Today: “To ensure that transgender persons can avail themselves of the benefits of this Act, it was necessary to provide a precise definition.”

Opposition parties have objected to the bill and refuted claims that it protects the trans community. As India Today reports, MP Samajwadi Party MP Anand Bhadauria said: “If the bill is for their welfare, why are they opposing it in the streets?”

The bill’s amendment has been met with widespread protests across several Indian cities, including New Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata. At these demonstrations, LGBTQ+ activists took to the streets, while a petition objecting to the proposal garnered over 13,000 signatures.

“The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026 threatens to undo a decade of legal progress and community struggle,” the petition reads.

“In the name of protection, it in fact deprives many persons of their identities and rights. If all it is meant to be is a protective legislation, it needs to focus on the many substantiated recommendations around employment, education, and alleviation from violence made by the transgender movements and those given by the MoSJE.”