Denied visibility in official data, millions of transgender Indians can’t access social benefits

Last year, as India went into lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the government announced that each transgender person would receive Rs 1,500 as direct transfer and ration supplies. Despite an estimated population of 4.8 million, only 5,711 transgender individuals received the bank transfer and 1,229 received the ration supplies.

“When we asked persons from the community to send us their bank account details, to forward to the government, around 80% told us that they have no bank accounts,” said Tinesh Chopade, advocacy manager at Humsafar Trust, an organisation working to advance health, advocacy, capacity building and research for the LGBTQIA+ community. “This is simply because they have no documentation.”

The lack of identity cards in their preferred names and recording their preferred gender identities means that many Indians who identify as transgender are excluded from various social security benefits.

The countrywide census conducted in 2011 had three options to declare a person’s sex – Male, Female and Other. This was India’s first attempt at collecting data on people with non-binary gender identities. Despite issues of exclusion and accuracy, the census provided an estimate of India’s transgender population – 487,803.

However, most other official data sources continue to collect and provide data in the binary format, excluding transgender and intersex persons. While there are no countrywide surveys…

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