mercredi 3 octobre 2012

Bientôt les mêmes droits pour les transexuels?


Alors que la France légalise le mariage gay, l'Inde s'apprête à reconnaître le "troisième sexe"...


SC seeks govts' stands on transgenders' rights
New Delhi, Oct 1 (PTI) The Supreme Court today sought the stands of the Centre and various state governments on a plea for declaring transgenders as citizens with a third category of gender and demanding equal protection and rights for them.
A bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra also issued notices to four Union ministries -- the Social Justice and Empowerment, the Women and Child Development, the Urban and Rural Development and the Health and Family Welfare on a petition complaining that transgenders have been deprived of many of their fundamental rights and privileges which other persons enjoy as citizens.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition, filed by the National Legal Services Authority, the statutory body mandated to provide free legal services to the weaker sections of the society and organise Lok Adalats for amicable resolution of disputes, also sought reservation for transgenders in educational institutions and job opportunities in public and private sectors, either as a separate category or as being a backward class.
Senior advocate L Nageshwar Rao and counsel Indira Sawhney submitted that transgenders are deprived of their fundamental rights available to the other two sexes - males and females, and are not considered as the third sex.
"The transgenders are deprived of social and cultural participation, are shunned by family and society, have only restricted access to education, health services and public spaces and have restricted rights as citizens such as right to marry, right to contest elections, right to vote, employment and livelihood opportunities and various human rights such as voting, obtaining passport, driving licence, ration card, identity card etc.
"The transgenders are treated as legal non-entity in violation of Articles 14, 15, 16 and 21 of the Constitution," the PIL said.
Elaborating upon the plight of transgenders, also called 'Hijras', the petition mentioned the judgement of the Madhya Pradesh High Court which in 2003 had upheld the election of a eunuch, Kamala Jaan, to the post of Katni mayor.
An election tribunal earlier had nullified his/her election on the ground that it was a seat reserved for women and "Kamla Jaan, being a 'male' was not entitled to contest the seat."

"It is submitted that all citizens have a right to vote and to contest elections. But in the electoral rolls only two categories of the sex are mentioned - male and female. This is unfair to the third sex of India as they are deprived of their statutory right to vote and contest elections," the petition said.
The PIL said in such a background there was a need for a direction to include "transgender" as a third category of sex in providing various opportunities or facilities, including in application forms for election card, passport, driving licence, identification card, ration card, admission to educational institutions and for provision of medical treatment, hospitalisation, toilet facilities etc.
The plea added that there was a need to recognise the right of transgenders to adopt children and to marry and for grant of legal status to the community so that they get financial support and help for free sex reassignment surgery and other treatments in government hospitals.

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