Noor Shekhawat: A Transgender Woman Who Fought for Her Identity and Education | NALSA v/s Union of India Judgement |

How a landmark judgment gave Transgender(TG) Noor Shekhawat the courage to pursue her dreams.

When there is an auspicious occasion in one’s house, like a baby announcement, a wedding, or a festival, people from a particular community arrive and declare their presence by having high-pitched clapping, known as TABOTA in the Indian (Gujarati) language. This gesture of Tabota is popularly recognized as a credential for the community known as transgender.

But Noor Shekhawat, a TG from Jaipur, has something different to say.

She says, “Change your own identity. Mere clapping cannot be your identity, but get official papers instead.” Her statement was based on the landmark judgment in the case of NALSA vs. Union of India (2014) 5 SCC 438, which recognizes TGs as the third gender and gives them other rights and benefits. Though, discrimination is not yet abolished from society. Abolishing such discrimination from society needs a struggle over time, and only the TG community has to change their own mindset about themselves.

About acquiring of Birth certificate according to the judgment:

30-year-old Noor Shekhawat of Jaipur received her birth certificate from the Government of Rajasthan on 19th July 2023. This was so encoragious for her that as if that day was like her personal liberation day. Furthermore, she has acquired a driver's license. Regarding the judgment (NALSA vs. Union of India (2014) 5 SCC 438), she proceeded for her right and succeeded. Now, she has got admission for Graduation in Commerce College of Rajasthan University. She still faces discrimination, but now she is confident as she has social backup from the Government. Since childhood, she faced discrimination from society and her family too. Her school days were not pleasant like other children’s. But now, she is determined to make a prosperous future through education; and is happy.
She is one of the lighthouses for the entire ignored third-person community!

She also wishes to pursue a PhD.  so that there will be a ‘Dr’ prefix before her name.

A message of Noor Shekhawat to the TG community:

Now time is changing. Gone are the days when TG people used to earn by clapping. Until now, the TG community thinking that if we can have earnings by clapping, why do we need to create an official identity for ourselves? But Noor identified the changing social scenario for the TG community.

She has delivered an important message to her community that:

There is a lot of discrimination against the transgender community. All we are left with is either sex work or visiting people at auspicious events.
Earning by clapping would be a past thing. Today, multinational companies like Amazon, Jetpack, and Flipkart have opened their doors to jobs in our community, so we should not hesitate to take the lead and prepare our papers. Today, getting a good job and earning lakhs of rupees has become possible, that too with self-respect. Today thousands of people are in online contact with her, and she is doing great social welfare work by giving them proper guidance.

What is the significance of having 'transgender' on a birth certificate?

Having a 'transgender' remark on a birth certificate is an essential step for many transgender people, as it allows them to accurately reflect their gender identity on a legal document and to obtain other identity and legal documents that match their gender.
It also helps them to avoid discrimination and protect their rights in various situations, such as education, employment, health care, travel, and voting.

Remark from Director and joint secretary of the statistics and economics department and chief registrar (Births and Deaths) Bhanwar Lal Bairwa:

• Director and joint secretary of the statistics and economics department and chief registrar (Births and Deaths) Bhanwar Lal Bairwa said:
  "Shekhawat’s application came to the department through JMC-Greater (Jaipur Municipal Corporation-Greater). She had applied for a birth certificate with transgender under the gender category. We have administrative control. Certificates are applied through JMC only. Since it was their first case too. They referred it to us. We looked at our provisions and decided to issue a certificate to her."
• Bhanwar Lal Bairwa also added that "there is a provision where people from the transgender community can come forward and apply for a birth certificate."
• Shekhawat said that, "While hers was the first example, she did not want to be the last one to apply for the same."

Links:

• Hindustan Times(HT): 30-yr-old Noor Shekhawat first in Rajasthan to have 'transgender' on birth certificate.
• The Indian Express: ‘While many congratulated, my own family didn’t accept me’: First recipient of transgender birth certificate in Rajasthan.
• Hindi Newspaper: Nav Bharat Times(NBT).
• NALSA:National Legal Service Authority V. Union of India

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