The short answer: over about 150 years, Indian law moved from putting hijra and other gender-diverse people under police watch, to recognising a third gender in 2014, to passing a national law in 2019 and changing it in 2026. Each step left real questions open. This article walks through the history of transgender rights in India in order, with dates and sources.

We wrote it as background for readers who follow the Bihar Transgender Welfare Board story. It is not about the temple proposal itself. It explains the legal ground that trans and hijra citizens in India stand on today.

Key takeaways

  • The Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 put "eunuchs", a catch-all colonial word that included hijras, under police watch and registration.
  • The Supreme Court's NALSA judgment of 15 April 2014 recognised a third gender and said gender identity is a person's own to declare.
  • The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act became law on 5 December 2019 and came into force on 10 January 2020.
  • Critics say the 2019 Act has no reservations in jobs or education and makes people apply to a district magistrate for a certificate.
  • In March 2026 Parliament passed an amendment that narrows the legal definition and adds a medical board step. We have not confirmed whether it is in force.
  • This history does not tell us anything about the Patna temple proposal. We do not link the two, and we say so below.

Laws shape daily life. They decide whether a person can get an identity card or use a public service without fear. To see why the community still asks for rights, jobs and respect, it helps to know how the law treated them before.

A note on words.

Different people use different words. Hijra and kinnar are old South Asian terms, and many people use them for themselves. Transgender is a wider word for someone whose gender is different from the one assigned at birth. Third gender is the term the Supreme Court used in 2014. We use the words the sources use, and we try to use them respectfully.

What was the place of hijras before colonial rule?

In its 2014 judgment, the Supreme Court looked back at older history. It said the idea of a "third nature" (tritiya prakriti) appears in old Indian texts. It also said hijras are mentioned in Hindu stories, and that they held roles in royal courts in the Mughal period and in the wider Islamic world. The judges also noted that Tamil Nadu hijras regard Aravan, a figure in the Mahabharata, as their ancestor.

Historians debate how secure or respected these roles really were, and they differed by place and time. We use the Court's account here only to show that the community has a long presence in South Asia. The Court said the situation changed under British rule.

What did the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 do to hijras?

The British passed the Criminal Tribes Act in 1871. It named certain communities as "criminal tribes" and put them under police control. It began in the North-Western Provinces, Oudh and Punjab, and in 1876 it was extended to the Bengal Presidency and other areas. Later versions were passed for Madras and Bombay in 1911.

The Act also created a category called "eunuch". The word was used loosely for many gender non-conforming people, including hijras. According to the account on Wikipedia, officials split them into "respectable" and "suspicious" eunuchs. A person who danced in public or wore women's clothes could be treated as suspicious and be arrested or fined. The same account says officials argued that registration would prevent kidnapping and other crimes, but there was little proof of this. Children living with hijras were taken away from them.

In 2014 the Supreme Court wrote that the Act put hijras under police watch, and that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was used to harass them.

When did it end? The Court says the Act was repealed in August 1949. Wikipedia adds that the "criminal tribes" were denotified in 1952, when the Habitual Offenders Act, 1952 replaced the system, and says the new law kept much of the same stigma.

What was Section 377 and how did it affect the community?

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is a colonial-era law that punished "carnal intercourse against the order of nature". It was a law about sexual acts, not about gender identity. The Supreme Court wrote in 2014 that it had been used as an instrument of harassment against hijras and transgender people.

The law changed in steps:

  • In 2009 the Delhi High Court heard the Naz Foundation case on this section.
  • In 2013 the Supreme Court, in the Suresh Kumar Koushal case, upheld the section.
  • On 6 September 2018 a five-judge bench, in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, unanimously held Section 377 unconstitutional as it applied to consensual sex between adults. Parts of the section remain for sex with minors, non-consensual acts and bestiality.

Section 377 is a different issue from transgender rights. We list it because the two campaigns ran in the same years.

What did the NALSA judgment of 2014 decide?

NALSA means the National Legal Services Authority. It filed a petition in the Supreme Court, and others joined, including the hijra activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathy. A two-judge bench of Justices K. S. Panicker Radhakrishnan and A. K. Sikri decided the case on 15 April 2014. The case is formally called National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India.

According to the summaries we read, the Court did the following:

  • It recognised transgender people as a "third gender" and said the fundamental rights in the Constitution apply to them.
  • It held that a person may identify as male, female or third gender. It said no one should be forced to have surgery before being legally recognised.
  • It said not recognising the third gender in laws about areas such as marriage, adoption and divorce was discriminatory.
  • It told the Centre and the states to treat transgender people as a socially and economically backward class, with reservations in education and public jobs.
  • It told governments to give health care, separate public toilets, welfare schemes and public awareness campaigns.

We read the early paragraphs of the judgment on Indian Kanoon, and used the Wikipedia summary for the final directions. For the exact operative wording, read the full judgment.

This is general information, not legal advice. For a real legal problem, speak to a lawyer or a legal aid service.

How did the 2019 Act come about?

After NALSA, Parliament took several tries to make a law. This table shows the path.

DateWhat happened
2015The Rajya Sabha passed the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014. DMK member Tiruchi Siva brought it as a private member's bill. PRS says it was still pending in the Lok Sabha. It proposed 2 percent reservation.
2 August 2016The government introduced its own bill in the Lok Sabha. Unlike the 2014 bill, it had no reservation provision. It went to a standing committee on 8 September 2016.
17 December 2018The Lok Sabha passed the bill. A new bill was introduced in 2019.
19 July 2019The new bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
5 August 2019The Lok Sabha passed it.
26 November 2019The Rajya Sabha passed it.
5 December 2019The President gave assent. It is Act No. 40 of 2019.
10 January 2020The Act came into force.

What does the Transgender Persons Act 2019 say?

PRS India, which tracks Parliament, summarises the main points of the 2019 law:

  • A transgender person is defined as someone whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth. This includes trans men, trans women, people with intersex variations, gender-queer people, and people with socio-cultural identities such as kinnar and hijra.
  • A person can apply to the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity marked "transgender". A revised certificate as male or female is available only after surgery.
  • Discrimination is barred in education, jobs, health care, public services, housing and more.
  • Governments must provide health facilities, welfare schemes and training.
  • Forced labour, denying access to public places, removal from a home or village, and physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic abuse are offences. Prison terms run from six months to two years, plus a fine.
  • A National Council for Transgender Persons is set up to advise the government, monitor policies and handle grievances.

For a deeper look at the law itself, read our separate analysis of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.

What do critics say about the 2019 Act?

Many community members and activists have objected to the law. Here are the main points they raise.

  • No reservations. The Act does not give reservations in jobs or education. The 2014 bill had proposed 2 percent, and NALSA had recommended reservations.
  • Certificates. Critics say the District Magistrate process undermines the self-identification that NALSA allowed.
  • Surgery for male or female recognition. A revised certificate depends on surgery, which seems to go against NALSA's ruling that surgery should not be required.
  • Penalties. Critics note that the punishment for abuse of a transgender person is lower than for similar crimes against others.

The government's position is that the Act gives a legal framework, anti-discrimination protection and welfare duties. The Supreme Court issued notice on petitions challenging the Act on 27 January 2020 and 12 June 2020. We have not found a final ruling on them.

What came after 2019?

The story did not stop in 2019. Documented points:

  • On 18 April 2020 the government published draft rules under the Act and asked for public comments.
  • States have set up welfare boards of their own. See our explainer on state transgender welfare boards in India.
  • In March 2026 Parliament passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026. PRS records introduction in the Lok Sabha on 13 March, passage there on 24 March and in the Rajya Sabha on 25 March.

According to PRS, the 2026 bill changes the law in these ways:

Topic2019 Act2026 amendment bill
DefinitionAnyone whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth, including trans men and trans womenA list of included groups. Trans men, trans women and genderqueer people are removed. Kinner, hijra, aravani, jogta and people with variations in sex characteristics stay. Sexual orientation is stated not to be covered.
CertificateDistrict Magistrate issues it on applicationDistrict Magistrate issues it only after a medical board recommends it
After surgeryA person can apply for a revised certificateA revised certificate becomes mandatory, and medical institutions must report such surgeries to the District Magistrate

We have not confirmed from an official source whether the bill has received presidential assent or come into force, so check the Gazette of India before relying on it.

What does this history have to do with the Bihar board?

On 29 July 2026 the Bihar State Transgender Welfare Board held its first meeting in Patna. According to PTI, it approved a proposal from member Rajan Singh to build a temple for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Singh said he proposed it because Modi "gave us respect and rights". Board member Anupriya Singh has reportedly called it Rajan Singh's personal agenda. You can read the details in our report on the board's approval and our piece on why the community is part of this story.

The history above is background for why welfare boards and recognition matter to many community members. It does not show that the temple has legal or community backing. No court has ruled on it, and the money figures in the news come only from Singh's own statements.

For the political side, see our piece on transgender representation and voters in Bihar, and the whole community and rights topic page.

What we do not know yet

  • How the Supreme Court will rule on the challenges to the 2019 Act. We found no final decision.
  • Whether the 2026 amendment has received assent and been brought into force, and how the Supreme Court will treat challenges to it.
  • How many people have received certificates under the Act. We did not find a figure we could verify.

For a full, plain explainer of the 2014 case, read the NALSA judgment of 2014, explained. For a festival at the heart of Tamil transgender life, see the Koovagam festival and the Aravan story.

Common questions

What was the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871?

It was a colonial law that named some communities as criminal by birth and put them under police watch. It had special rules for "eunuchs", a word that included hijras.

What did NALSA decide in 2014?

On 15 April 2014 the Supreme Court recognised a third gender, said people can decide their own gender identity, and told governments to give transgender people rights, welfare and reservations.

When did the 2019 Act come into force?

The President assented on 5 December 2019, and the Act came into force on 10 January 2020.

Why do people criticise the 2019 Act?

Critics point to the lack of reservations, the district magistrate certificate process, the surgery rule for male or female recognition, and lighter punishments for crimes against transgender people.

Sources

Last checked on 24 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us through our contact page.