Hundreds of persons of the LGBTQIA+ community thronged the venue near the Chennai District Collector Office on Monday March 23, 2026 to stage a protest demonstration organised by the Central Chennai District Committee of the CPI(M) demanding withdrawal of the Transgender persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill 2026 from being introduced in Parliament.
The angry protestors held high placards with inscriptions that exposed the atrocious violation of the Constitution of India by the Modi government in trespassing on the rights of the Transgenders as citizens and trampling upon their dignity, besides doing away with the minimum guarantees for existence and livelihood ensured in the original Bill adopted by Parliament in 2019.
The unmistakable fury and indignation against the humiliation at the hands of the NDA government at the Centre was writ large on the faces of those in the gathering, who individually and collectively expressed their anger in regard to the Bill.
Addressing the spirited demonstrators, G Selva, District Secretary of the CPI(M), Central Chennai, pointed out that the Central Committee of the Party has recorded its stout protest against the proposed Bill, since the amendments fundamentally negate the principle of self-determination of gender identity affirmed by the Supreme Court in the NALSA v. Union of India (2014).
Coming down heavily on the criminal intent of the Modi government, Selva lambasted the policy makers by raising the question as to what else could be more inhuman and atrocious than the amendment requiring certification of the sexual identity of transgenders by a medical board and the District Magistrate. This amounts to gross violation of the privacy of the individuals concerned. This goes against Article 14, Article 15, Article 19 and Article 21 of the Constitution, he stated.
Whereas the 2019 Act's provisions brought in a broad classification of transgenders, the 2026 Bill is so mischievous that transmen, genderqueer and transwomen outside the named socio-cultural categories like kinner, hijra, aravani and jogta go out of the ambit of the definition, Selva stated.
He further pointed out that the 2026 Bill would endanger the progressive steps taken by States like Tamil Nadu in constituting welfare boards meant for transgenders. This retrograde, reactionary and harmful Bill deserves to be rejected lock, stock and barrel, he concluded.
C Thiruvettai, District Secretariat member, CPI(M), Central Chennai, R Kumar, Secretary of the Harbour area committee, Arul Kumar, District Committee Member, M V Krishnan, Hemavathi, Deputy General Secretary, Tamilnadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association (TNPWAA), Mylai Balu, Karuppu Anbarasan, Lakshaya Mannar, Sudha (all from TNPWAA), social activists Jaya, Sabitha, Shasha and Kattiyakari theatre activist Srijith Kumar were among those present.
