High Court in India rules that trans women are legally women

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The High Court of Andhra Pradesh in India has ruled that trans women are legally women, rejecting the claim that womanhood depends on the ability to bear children.

Dr. Justice Venkata Jyothirmai Pratap, a Judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, presided over the case, and said that tying the definition of a woman to pregnancy is “legally unsustainable.”

Quoting a 2014 Supreme Court decision that recognised the rights of “third gender” individuals, the judge said that denying trans women the right to identify as women “amounted to discrimination.”

The ruling was delivered on Wednesday 16 June.

The case came to light after a transgender woman, Pokala Shabana, sought protection under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code in 2022.

The law was designed to protect women from

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