00:00The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the state governments in America to bar transgender sports persons from participating in
00:09student sporting events as women.
00:14If you look at the Olympics rules, trans persons, trans women are not allowed to participate as women in women
00:22-specific categories.
00:26That is the rule that the Olympic Association passed just last year and is going to be implemented in the
00:33upcoming 2028 Olympics.
00:35But when you look at India, how does India see its trans population?
00:39We have in India the Transgender Act, the Protection Act that was passed in 2019, which had asked for protections
00:47for transgender persons, for recognition for transgender persons.
00:50But in 2026, just a few months ago, we saw an amendment being passed in the Trans Act, which said
00:58that self-identification as a trans person will no longer be valid.
01:03And therefore, any person who wants to be identified as a trans person must get a valid medical certificate.
01:11But when it comes to sports persons, what exactly is the law in India?
01:14Short answer, there is none.
01:16Sports administration in India is governed in a very sports-specific manner with the respective national sports federations and the
01:25district sports federations making their own rules and regulations.
01:29And particularly when it comes to student-athletes like what happened in the US, each state, each district-level sports
01:35authority can potentially make its own rules.
01:37The national sports federations in India at present follow the international norms, which means that an athlete in India, if
01:46they want to participate at a national level or qualify for an international sporting event,
01:50will have to take that genetic test and participate in the category of the gender that they were at birth.
01:58They cannot claim the gender of their choice.
02:00But when it comes to sports at the university, school or district level, a lot is still in the grey.
02:07In 2022, the Kerala High Court allowed a trans woman athlete to participate in a district-level judo competition.
02:15The Kerala High Court's reasoning was that since there is no rule specifically and there is no category created for
02:23trans persons, should be allowed to participate as a woman.
02:27However, despite this Kerala High Court order, the general law in this country remains vague.
02:34We spoke to athletes, we spoke to lawyers and persons who are familiar with the law.
02:39And as one, they all say, well, this is something that the courts may have to eventually decide because our
02:46sports federations and our government is not doing it.
Comments