Supreme Court recognises Third Gender In India- No more Transgender Discrimination.

In a landmark ruling on 15th April 2014, the Supreme Court of India allowed trans-gender people to identify as a third gender and directed the central and state governments to give full legal recognition to them.
The top court was responding to a public interest lawsuit filed by the National Legal Services Authority, which provides free legal services to the poor and the dis-advantaged. The group had argued that treating transgender people as legal non entities, unable to apply for official identification documents, meant that they were deprived of basic human rights.
The court agreed with the organization and directed governments to treat the transgender community as a minority group that is eligible for welfare programmes, health care and employment and help transgender people to become part of mainstream society.
According to one estimate, Inida has about two million transgender people. In India,  acommon term used to describe transgender people, transsexuals, cross-dressers, transvestites is hijra. They live on the fringes of society, often in poverty, because of their gender identity. Most make living by singing, dancing or by begging and prostitution. They face a hugh discrimination and sometimes even hospitals refuse to admit them.
In 2009, India's Election Commission took a first step by allowing transgebders to choose their gender as "other" on ballot forms.
India is the latest of several South Asian countries to recognise a third gender. Neighboring Nepal has added a third gender option to government documents, as have Pakistan and Bangladesh. Germany became the first European country to recognize a third gender in 2013, allowing parents to mark " indeterminste" on birth certificates.
Members of the third gender have played a prominent role in Indian cdulture and were once treated with great respect. They find mention in the ancient Hindu scriptures and were written about in the greatest epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.
In medieval India too, they played a prominent role in the royal courts of the Mugal emperors and some Hindu rulers. Their fall from grace started in the 18th century during the British colonial rule when they Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 categorised the entire transgender community as " criminals who were "addicated" to commiting serious crimes. They wer arrested for dressing in women's clothing or dancing or playing music in public places and for indulging in gay sex.