Who Counts as a Woman

In one line

The Supreme Court held in 2014 that gender is what a person says it is; Parliament said something narrower in 2019 and something narrower still in 2026.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: every provision in this module operates on the word "woman", and no statute in it defines the word. In National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India the Supreme Court declared that hijras and eunuchs, apart from the binary genders, are to be treated as a THIRD GENDER for the purposes of Part III and of the laws made by Parliament and the State Legislatures; that a transgender person's right to decide their SELF-IDENTIFIED GENDER is upheld and must be given legal recognition as male, female or third gender; that they are to be treated as socially and educationally backward classes for reservation in education and public appointments; and that any insistence on sex reassignment surgery for declaring one's gender is immoral and illegal. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 followed, prohibiting discrimination in section 3 and providing for a certificate of identity from the District Magistrate in sections 5 to 7. The Amendment Act of 2026, in force from 25 May 2026, omitted section 4(2) and rewrote the definition in section 2(k).

NALSA

Facts. National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India, (2014) 5 SCC 438, decided 15 April 2014 by K.S. Radhakrishnan and A.K. Sikri JJ. A petition sought legal recognition for persons who identify as neither male nor female, and redress for the exclusion of the transgender community from education, employment, healthcare and public facilities.

Held, and these are the nine declarations to name. That hijras and eunuchs, apart from the binary genders, be treated as a THIRD GENDER for safeguarding their rights under Part III and under the laws made by Parliament and the State Legislatures. That a transgender person's RIGHT TO DECIDE THEIR SELF-IDENTIFIED GENDER is upheld, and the Centre and the States are directed to grant legal recognition of gender identity as male, female or third gender. That they be treated as SOCIALLY AND EDUCATIONALLY BACKWARD CLASSES and extended reservation in educational admissions and public appointments. That separate HIV sero-surveillance centres be operated. That the Governments address fear, shame, gender dysphoria, social pressure, depression, suicidal tendencies and stigma, and that any INSISTENCE ON SEX REASSIGNMENT SURGERY for declaring one's gender is IMMORAL AND ILLEGAL. That medical care and separate public toilets and facilities be provided. That welfare schemes be framed. That public awareness be created so that transgender persons are not treated as untouchables. And that measures be taken to regain the respect and place they once held in social and cultural life.