When universities force trans people to run from pillar to post for their certificates

Most universities have rules in place for women who have changed their name after marriage – but not for trans people who have changed their name and gender legally.
When universities force trans people to run from pillar to post for their certificates
When universities force trans people to run from pillar to post for their certificates
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Fifteen years after his BE in Computer Science and Engineering, US-based Sai Rahul Vijayakumar is back in India to renew his visa. While this might be common for many Indian citizens living abroad, for Sai Rahul this is no ordinary visit. Rahul is a trans man, who is here to get his name and gender markers changed on his school and college certificates. But what should’ve been a simple process has been complicated. Rahul, who started the paperwork in April, is still waiting for his renewed BE certificates from Bharathiar University.

Rahul is not alone. Five years have passed since the landmark NALSA verdict by the Supreme Court, which declared self-determined gender identity a fundamental right under Articles 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution of India. Yet, changing school and college certificates is a difficult, hostile process for most trans students in the country, resulting in serious material consequences for their employment and livelihood.

“Changing my school documents was easy, since the Kerala government is trans friendly,” says Rahul, “I was able to change my passport and other IDs too. The only thing pending is this degree certificate, which is a big thing. If this is not changed, I cannot go back to the US.”

Forced to run from pillar to post

In March this year, another important order was passed by the Karnataka High Court. While hearing a petition by the Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR) on behalf of Jeeva, a trans man seeking name and gender change in school and college certificates, the judge directed the state government to send out a circular to all educational authorities in Karnataka to follow the NALSA guidelines.

Like Jeeva, Rahul too was forced to go to court – in his case, the Madras High Court. Rahul’s college is a reputed institution in Coimbatore affiliated to Bharathiar University. The university told him to approach the court, but hiring legal help turned out to be very expensive. “One lawyer demanded Rs 50,000. For a straightforward case, it was too high,” says Rahul.

Rahul then contacted L Ramakrishnan, an LGBTQI+ rights activist from the NGO SAATHII, who pointed him to CLPR. The HC ruled in Rahul’s favour, directing the university to make necessary changes in the certificate, but Rahul isn’t celebrating yet. In its response to the petition, Bharathiar University claimed that their reason for refusal was an improper application, which did not include his signature, and a requisite fee of Rs 500. The HC directed Rahul to redo his application.

Education authorities feign ignorance

Ramakrishnan blames the absence of an overarching set of instructions to all education departments for the struggles that trans students are put through. “This allows institutions to insist on individuals bringing court orders. Even in Rahul’s case, the scope of the ruling is very narrow,” he says.

Referring to the Karnataka HC’s blanket order in March, Rahul’s advocates say they sought a general direction to all educational institutions in Tamil Nadu to implement the NALSA judgment. “The judge refused to entertain that prayer, saying that by default they must already be recognising the judgment,” says C Prabhu, advocate at the Madras HC and Equality Fellow with CLPR.

“The Karnataka judgment in Jeeva’s case came as a surprise,'' says Jayna Kothari of CLPR. The advocates hadn’t explicitly asked for such a directive. “Karnataka is the first High Court to do this. The judge asked the government advocate why the name and gender hadn’t been changed in the petitioner’s documents despite several requests in writing to the PU Board and other authorities. The advocate said they didn’t know what to do, because they had no directions,” Jayna says.

This made the court sit up and take note of the seriousness of the problem, she says. “We had highlighted that there are many people suffering because of this, and not all of them can afford legal help. We ourselves (CLPR) had filed three such petitions already,” she says. Following the order, a circular was issued to all education authorities in Karnataka regarding the process of name and gender change.

‘Medical proof’ of gender

Ramakrishnan says that institutions have continued to insist on ‘medical proof’ for making changes in the certificates. In a couple of cases from Tamil Nadu, including the much celebrated case of SI Prithika Yashini, the court allowed the name and gender change based on proof of surgery furnished by the petitioners. This despite the fact that the Supreme Court has clearly said it’s wrong to ask for proof of surgery or any other ‘medical’ proof for gender change certificates. Gender is self-determined, and the SC too has reiterated this.

Rahul, who began surgery procedures just before starting the process of changing his IDs, says that he submitted his medical certificates for some of the other document changes, including passport.

In Tamil Nadu, activist Grace Banu says that producing medical certificates is often compulsory. She mentions that the Directorate of School Education recently introduced a procedure for changing details on certificates. “You have to get a certificate from your headmaster, in which you need to have your photos before and after surgery. Earlier, we just had to show the gazetted copy which clearly mentions the chosen gender and name. The order wants us to mention both the old name and new name, which is completely against the NALSA judgment,” she says.

Gee Imaan Semmalar, an activist and working group member of Sampoorna India, says, “Right after the NALSA judgment, when I changed the gender on my passport, I had to submit my surgery certificate. Even now that guideline hasn’t changed,” he says.

Administrative hostility

Grace Banu talks about the District Screening Committees of the Tamil Nadu Transgender Welfare Board, where a medical officer performs a physical examination to ascertain whether someone is trans.

“Recently, more than 16 trans people attended a screening committee for their trans ID cards. When I saw the report, the doctor mentioned the body parts, instead of listening to their chosen identity,” Grace Banu says.

She says talking to the medical officers about the NALSA verdict has been futile. “All these spaces are occupied by cis men with patriarchal mindsets. It’s very difficult to educate them. The medical officers need basic awareness about trans identity.”

Gee completed his BA from Delhi University and MA from Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. “I needed my transcripts to apply for my PhD. I had to pretend to be my own relative to retrieve them in my dead name,” he says. When he enquired about the name change process, the JNU administration said that they could change the name for married women students if they produced the gazette notification. “When I pushed further and asked about change in religion or gender, they said they didn’t have any such procedures in place.” Changing his BA degree would be even more complicated, Gee says, since he went to an all-women college.

Satya Rai Nagpaul,  a gender activist of trans masculine experience, and the founder of the trans-intersex collective, Sampoorna, had a similar experience at Panjab University, where he did his MA Philosophy in 2016. At the time of admission, Satya submitted his graduation certificate from an all-women college in DU, along with the documents pertaining to gender affirming procedures that he had undertaken from 1995 onwards. Yet, four months later, the university administration accused him of having submitted ‘fake’ certificates.

“The officer in-charge took a while to come to terms with the facts of the matter. I even shared all the medical and legal documents with them, which should’ve sufficed to issue my admit card for the upcoming exams in my legal name,” Satya says. But the officer firmly refused, saying that the university would entertain a name change only in the case of two events – if the qualifying college reissued the graduation certificate, or if a woman student happened to change her name after marriage.

“I argued that the paperwork has been accepted by the government. I told her how all my ID documents were changed based on these documents, that surely I can’t be expected to do it all over after more than 20 years of being recognised thus.” After repeated appeals, furnishing of different documents and even citing the NALSA judgment, the officer remained unmoved.

Satya was forced to go back to DU to renew his graduation certificate, but his request was denied. Just like Panjab University and JNU, it turned out that DU only entertained name change for current students, or women students who had changed their name after marriage.

Having tried to convince the Panjab University admin through the department’s Chairperson, Academic Committee, and the VC of the university, Satya’s case was finally resolved thanks to a chance meeting with the Registrar.

How this hurts trans people

Rahul says that while his employers in the US have been supportive through the process, he has to change the documents to be able to go back to work, since he is on an H1B visa.

Janavi, who graduated from Bangalore University, has been waiting for three years to get her certificates changed. “Bangalore University has been unwilling to change the details even after I showed them proof of surgery. The officials have only asked uninformed and insensitive questions,” she says.

Janavi, who completed her BCom and MCom from BU, has a case pending in a civil court. “I’ve tried applying for jobs, but having my certificates in my dead name has been a big problem,” she says. Six months after the Karnataka HC verdict, there has been no progress in Janavi’s case. “They’re saying they haven’t gotten any circular, and that once they get it, they will inform me,” she says.

When Gee began to apply to PhD programs, he says he didn’t want to apply to Indian universities. “They claim to be trans friendly, but from what I’ve seen in a friend’s experience, I didn’t want to get stressed out with getting my card in my old name,” he says.

Instead, Gee applied to a UK university with trans friendly policies. All he needed was an affidavit, which is standard procedure for any name change. “I wasn’t asked for any medical proof. They didn’t ask about my trans status at all,” he says.

The friend Gee refers to is Satya, who was even asked to go back to his Class 12 school board of CBSE, when DU refused to reissue his certificate. “CBSE would ask me to go back to my Class 10 board, the ICSE. And being in an all girls’ ICSE school meant the end of this road,” says Satya, who nearly lost out on the opportunity to obtain his MA degree.

But for students who continue to pursue their education in India, the process is still a huge ordeal. Gee says that the discrepancies in the implementation of the NALSA judgment translates into structural unemployment for the trans community, in spite of having a formal education.

“What this really means for the community is that we are unemployable. Apart from issues of dropping out of school or not having access to education, even those who have managed to get degrees find it difficult to get jobs. Because in every interview, when they cross check your documents, they see your dead name and they ask you who that is. Then you have to disclose your trans identity, and they can find an excuse to reject you,” Gee says.

 
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