Why transgender students are taking law schools to court

NEW DELHI: “I consider myself privileged because of the support which helped me access education,” stated Nikita Bandre, a transwoman and a student of Kishinchand Chellaram College, Mumbai. Bandre’s campaign for admission in a law school led Maharashtra to adopt the landmark policy of providing free education to transgender people in public institutions of higher education.

In early 2023, after failing to secure a seat in law, Bandre visited Maharashtra’s higher education minister Chandrakant Patil. This led to her getting direct admission in the three-year LLB programme at Kishinchand Chellaram College, Mumbai. “We have set a precedent for other colleges,” said Kavita Lalchandani, principal, KC College, Mumbai. “Every college should work towards the inclusion of transgender communities and bring them forward. This community also deserves to receive their right to education and must be treated equally.”

Close to a decade after the Supreme Court passed a judgement – also known as the NALSA judgement – recognising a “third gender” community and including them among the “socially and educationally backward classes”, transgender students still struggle to access education. Coming from a relatively well-heeled and supportive family, Bandre got to finally study law, but her keen awareness about what the community suffers was what prompted her to push for that opportunity.

“The inspiration to study came from witnessing the poor conditions of transgender persons around me who dropped out of education or died by suicide due to transphobia and discrimination. I wanted to do something about this,” said Bandre, 26. Last year saw numerous petitions filed by transgender persons against law schools, including the top-ranking National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bengaluru and Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University.

Most transgender persons, as activists and students point out, don’t even reach higher studies, having abandoned education due to marginalisation and bullying. “Throughout school, whenever I was bullied for my identity, my goal has given me strength to keep going,” said Padma Laxmi, the first transgender advocate in Kerala.

Reservation and admissions

The 2014 NALSA judgement said: “We direct the Centre and the state governments to take steps to treat them [transgender persons] as socially and educationally backward classes of citizens and extend all kinds of reservation in cases of admission in educational institutions and for public appointments.”

In July, 2023, in response to a petition filed in the Supreme Court, the Union government said that transgender people can benefit only from existing reservations for historically-marginalised communities such as the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes, as well as the Economically Weaker Sections, or the upper-caste poor. There is no separate quota. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 is silent on reservations as well.

However, the judgement has encouraged some members of the community to go to courts over reservation in admissions. Mugil Anbu Vasantha, another transgender woman, secured admission in NLSIU but only after moving the Karnataka High Court. As per reports, the Karnataka HC ordered NLSIU to admit the transgender student into its three-year LLB programme. The ruling came after NLSIU informed the court that its executive council had refused a transgender quota this year, but the court held that denying admission would be in breach of the NALSA judgement. Vansatha had appeared for the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) in the unreserved category but was denied admission.

A similar petition was filed by another transgender applicant in the Tamil Nadu Human Rights Commission. Pranishka Chinnamuniyandi, the petitioner, has applied to Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University for admission in BA LLB programme.

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Legal studies: Challenges after 10 years

Rakshitha Mallikarjuna of Ondede, a Bengaluru-based non-profit working on the rights of transgender and non-conforming persons rights, said that even after a decade, the NALSA judgement is yet to be properly implemented. “Majority of transgender people are facing challenges to continue within the education system because of discrimination,” she said.

Further, only a few colleges and universities provide opportunities. “Many private universities still take in students from the community but government colleges have no acceptance,” stated Mallikarjuna.

Akkai Padmashali, a transgender activist who herself had to face many hurdles, said: “Accessing equal rights to education is a long-term process, despite the judgement. The policies of education inclusivity have further excluded people. The so-called progressive professors, lecturers, vice chancellors, who are supposed to be speaking for people are just paying lip-service. Most of the people from our community have to knock on the doors of courts.”

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‘Books rescued me’

Bandre’s push for her own education changed policies in Maharashtra. She said: “There should be more discussion on gender and sex in our society. We need to teach children that there exists a category of gender other than male and female.”

Bandre’s own school life was troubled and lonely. “Throughout school and college, I never had any friends. I was bullied but my parents always pushed me to focus on my studies. As I grew, I saw the condition of the transgender community. Most members had left school midway and because of the lack of options, were forced to beg or go into sex trade,” she said.

Laxmi sought refuge in books. “Books always rescued me, gave me strength to study, access education and also pursue hormonal treatment,” she said. But this is not the case with most transgender persons who get little support from family or society.

Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka now provide some form of reservation and scholarships.

Equal representation: A long way to go

In the last one year, many trans persons have received admission in different higher education institutions which has opened doors for many others, but still there are problems in implementation. “The law universities don’t have equal participation of marginalised communities because they don’t speak so-called ‘fluent English’. There is still a long way to go for equal representation,” said Padmashali.

Further, the vast majority of policymakers belong to binary genders and have no idea about problems that transgender persons face, leading to delay in implementation of policies, explained Laxmi. She works as an advocate in the Kerala High Court and is enrolled with the Bar Council of India but despite her achievements, she has faced discrimination. “Derogatory words have been used against me even in court,” she said. That said, she finds that the views of different courts have been more progressive than those of policymakers.