While there are public restrooms for either men or women, the petitioner informed the court that there is not a single restroom in Gujarat for transgender people, who make up the third gender population.
In a public interest litigation (PIL) suit [Dr. Sneha Ashwinbhai Trivedi v. Union of India] requesting separate restrooms for transgender people in Gujarat, the Gujarat High Court on Wednesday served notice to the Central and State governments.
The government has been given until June 16 to answer to the petition, according to a bench of Justice Biren Vaishnav and Acting Chief Justice AJ Desai.
The petitioner Dr. Sneha Trivedi, a physiotherapist, was represented by attorney Vilav Bhatia, who informed the bench that while Gujarat has public restrooms for both men and women, there is not a single restroom for transgender people, who make up the third gender community.
The bench heard the argument and said, “Issue notice to the authorities.”
Trivedi said in her appeal that everyone has certain fundamental rights, regardless of gender, and that using separate public restrooms is one of those rights.
She stated that asking one specific gender to use a public loo designed for the other gender is essentially wrong, immoral, or both.
The petition further noted that transgender people now have equal rights and treatment in India after the Supreme Court accepted them as the third gender in the NALSA v. Union of India case.
Therefore, it would be unlawful to use a public lavatory without a separate facility, as stated in Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution. They should receive the same respect as the two other genders by having their own bathrooms constructed. When they use restrooms intended for men or women, they experience trauma, anguish, and harassment, the petition claimed.
In the NALSA decision, the Supreme Court mandated that the Federal Government and the States adopt appropriate steps to ensure that transgender patients receive appropriate medical care in hospitals and have access to separate public restrooms.
When a person of a third gender uses the bathrooms intended for men or women, transgender people of both sexes experience some unease and trepidation. Therefore, every person deserves to use restrooms in a safe and healthy atmosphere while taking care of their essential needs. The complaint emphasised that the third gender’s right to privacy is violated when they use a lavatory intended for people of other genders.
The petitioner further emphasised that transgender people are forced to use the restrooms intended for men, where they are vulnerable to sexual assault and harassment, because there are no separate public restrooms for them.
“Discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity undermines legal equality and equal protection under the law. They must be given access to a lavatory that is both accessible and safe, free from threats of violence or harassment. To ensure that all people, including transgender people, have access to secure and respectable restrooms, gender-neutral restrooms are urgently needed, the petition’s authors continued.
The petitioner demanded that the government and society as a whole do more to make India’s transgender population more welcome and accepted.
SUBMITTED BY NEHA A. PARDESHI/4TH Year BLS LLB/TRCL
