TRANSGENDER RIGHTS AND FAMILY LAW

Abstract

The argument on transgender rights in the Indian and more definitively the family law must be acutely witnessed on the deconstructing of how the prevailing laws and the rulings of the court in matters concerning transgender treat or disregard such individuals. This is so more so with the complex nature of personal laws in place in India in order to regulate marriage, adoption as well as inheritance of one human being and have traditionally stood out on a twofold gender system. Another significant step toward the legal status of transgender identities is the Transgender Persons Act, 2019, but it too has been as critics call on restricting the rights and gender identity (Jain, 2022) (Bhattacharya et al., 2022). This chapter is written about how the Indian law transformed its perception towards the transgender identity. It even goes to the extent of exceeding the dichotomy approach of presenting problems and prospects of the potential of making legal provision of family transgender. It touches upon this topic as well with the aim of discussing some specific spheres of family statutes, such as marriage, adoption, and inheritance, to conclude which particular aspects can be acquired by transgender individuals regarding this object of focus (Sriraam, 2020). It also considers correlation that goes along with constitutional rights to equality and non-discrimination and the personal legislation, which are rather contrived to preserve the traditional attitudes to gender. This supports the necessity of law changes and liberal judicial standpoints so as to guarantee that transgender individuals should be fully incorporated into Indian society (Talawar, 2024). As the largest democracy in the world with more than 1.3 billion residents, India has a varied cultural background that encompasses a gender of transgender individuals, and its traces can be traced back to ancient Hindu literature (Dixit et al., 2023). However, despite this historical recognition, the modern understanding of transgender people is associated with serious discrimination and health inequity, as the transgroup is victimized and faces increased risk of drug abuse. These problems are to be addressed in comprehensive policy interventions (Raj and Dubey, 2024).