Win-win: Separate Toilets for Trans People, Orders Delhi Government

Delhi Orders all government bodies for the Construction of Separate Toilets for Trans People

The seven-year-old decision of the Supreme Court, which was to acknowledge the identity of Trans as the third sex and other items of the order that included the installation of third gender toilets is now in action.

On 12th February, the chief secretary Vijay Dev introduced “In compliance with the provisions of Section 22 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, for ensuring adequate welfare measures for transgender persons, all public buildings under all the departments, autonomous bodies, PSUs, corporations, and local bodies of Government of NCT Delhi are hereby directed to create separate identified public toilet facilities for transgender persons,”

All the government bodies of Delhi are directed to set aside, public bathroom facilities exclusively for the use of Transgender people. These toilets should be marked with a ‘T’ sign and should be constructed in the next two years. For the time, the toilets reserved for disabled people can also be allocated to the use of third gender people, as per the annual budget for UT 2021-22.

Though the trans person will not be restricted to using only this bathroom, this one is merely an additional option, reports PTI quoting the order of the Social Services Agency, which extends to all city offices, district authorities, local corporations, and autonomous bodies – “Trans people shall continue to be allowed to use gender-based toilets on the basis of their self-identified gender,” stated

For trans, like many other struggles, the use of bathrooms in public places has been a real struggle and a threat to the dignity of trans people. The gendered washrooms used to increase the potential of them being a subject of humiliation, abuse, and harassment by transphobic members.

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Image source – Canva

Critique –

Well, while the government is being thanked for being thoughtful enough, the move is yet being criticized by the gender activists for not being very welcoming for other gender-based minorities. The argument is that the trans-gendered toilets will again add up to the marginalization as the move is yet not very inclusive. While the action has been taken in, after seven long years, yet, the decision is not yet in favour of the queer community. Their demands were for Gender Neutral Toilets and not for Transgender toilets. They have been demanding the inclusivity of non-binaries and not just trans people.

While the consideration of government should be appreciated, this move has yet scud for it to be called utterly progressive.

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