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Over 200 transgender rights and social activists from across the state wrote to Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Wednesday, April 15, urging him to pass a resolution in the State Assembly against the Transgender Amendment Act, 2026. The activists also appealed that the Telangana government should hold back on operationalising the amended Act in the state and continue to uphold rights as per the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, and the Supreme Court’s NALSA judgement of 2014.
Stating that the newly amended Act violates the constitutional rights of lakhs of transgender and gender-diverse persons, the letter also explained how the 2026 amendment poses a significant threat to their rights and protections, as the legislation could lead to a loss of legal recognition, exclusion from welfare entitlements, denial of healthcare, loss of employment, and withdrawal of protections under criminal law.
The signatories also included activists who were nominated to the Transgender Welfare Board constituted by the then state government on August 19, 2022, and November 15, 2022.
The activists condemned the haste with which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government passed the Act within two weeks, despite resistance from many opposition MPs, transgender persons across the country, and even members of the National Council for Transgender Persons, two of whom resigned in protest.
“The Union Govt did not even heed to the advice of the Supreme Court appointed Advisory Committee (in Jane Kaushik vs. UoI) to not pass the Bill and refer it to a departmental Standing Committee and hold wide ranging consultations with transgender communities,” the letter said.
“This legislation has a multitude of built-in retrospective references that cause enormous anxiety and uncertainty over the fate of the 32,000 transgender certificates issued under the 2019 Act. The Amendment Act violates fundamental rights under Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Constitution,” the letter added.
The signatories also strongly urged the State Government to refrain from operationalizing the Amendment Act within Telangana, as rules have not yet been notified by the Central Government.
“The activists also requested CM Revanth Reddy to instruct officials to continue issuing all pending applications for IDs under the 2019 Act. In Telangana, out of 2824 applicants for transgender certificate and ID card, 2013 cards were issued and 811 are pending. The state government can also provide fresh state-level IDs like many other states including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have done,” the letter added.