Transgender People Should Be Able To Use Toilet Of Choice: Centre To States

The government has said that transgender people should be able to use any toilet of their choice in their communities. The sanitation ministry has issued a circular in this regard to state governments.

"In many communities, the third gender may often be dissociated from the main stream. Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) should make a conscious effort that they are recognized as equal citizens and users of toilets. They should be allowed to use the facility of their choice (men or women) in community or public toilets," the circular says.

The circular also acknowledged that transgender people contribute meaningfully to their communities and should be allowed to use facilities without embarrassment, the ministry argued.

The move comes on the same day in which North Carolina in the US repealed a bill which had required transgender people to use the toilets that corresponded to the gender on their birth certificates.

The urban development ministry has also passed the Real Estate Regulation law which states that anyone should be able to buy a property in a complex, including transgender people.

There have been many other such moves to protect the rights of transgender people. The Madras High Court has asked the Tamil Nadu government to build toilets and bathrooms for transgender citizens in areas where “they live in large numbers”.

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