02The payload
The self-identification right, deleted
Section 4(2) of the earlier law recognised a right to self-perceived gender identity. The 2026 amendment deletes it in full.
The short version, in eight cards
In 2014 the Supreme Court settled it: you decide your own gender. By March 2026, 5,566 applications had been refused, with nowhere to appeal.
2 May 2026 · 4 min read · 18 sourcesWhat most people think
The 2026 law is one sudden change to how gender is recognised.
What the data shows
12 years
This did not start this year
Source · PRS India · The Print · March 2026
You just saw the decision move twice. Here is every step, from the judgment to the 2026 law.
Source · PRS India · The Print · The Wire
Section 4(2) of the earlier law recognised a right to self-perceived gender identity. The 2026 amendment deletes it in full.
Two groups only: people the law names as kinner, hijra, aravani, jogta and eunuch, and people with medically recognised intersex variations.
It narrowed who the law covers and changed how certificates are issued.
Source · PRS India · The Print
Four days before the vote, a committee the Supreme Court had appointed met without seven government secretaries and asked for the bill's withdrawal.
Source · PRS India · Lok Sabha record · The Wire · March 2026
These are the figures for the system the amendment rewrote.
Source · The 2011 census · the national portal · PRS India
Those refusals had nowhere to go. Here is every decision in one certificate case.
Source · PRS India
