While the status of India’s transgender community remains low, a public interest litigation (PIL) petition currently before India’s Supreme Court could pave the way for official recognition of a third sex, according to campaigners for the country’s eunuchs.

If successful, gender boxes on government forms could be ticked male, female or ‘kinnar’, the word India’s estimated 1.5 million eunuchs use to describe themselves.

Eunuchs once enjoyed a proud place in Indian society, with many rising to position of power and gaining trusted positions in royal courts.

Today, London’s Daily Telegraph reports, most eunuchs – born with ‘deformed genitals’, and later castrated – say they suffer serious discrimination, and are denied equal opportunities in employment and education.

They have launched a petition calling for quotas for government jobs, university places and a commission that could lead their official recognition.

“It’s high time that the authorities pay heed to our demands and take our community seriously,” Simran, a volunteer at the Dai Welfare Society, a non-government organisation working for eunuchs, told DNAIndia.com.

Herself transgender, Simran said the basic problem confronting her community is the difficulty in gaining officially-recognised identification.

The state of Tamil Nadu is the only Indian state that recognises the transgender community, given them a third option in the sex category, hence not forcing them to choose between the two sexes only.

“We want other state governments to take cue. Not only in Mumbai, but eunuchs all over India want to live with dignity. And this is not possible unless we have our own identity, independent of the two conventional sexes,” Simran said.

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