SG Mehta refers to provisions of the Transgender Act.
Justice Kaul: If really the concerns of the gay and lesbian community had to be addressed, possibly a legislation specific to that and that has come for transgenders would have addressed issue
SG Mehta: Yes like a man trapped in woman's body, I read somewhere. I may be wrong. I don't know if it is a bad word. I may be pardoned.
CJI DY Chandrachud: Cis gender is a gender you're born with. Now, there may be some variations but as a principle- lesbians belong to the cis gender category because there is no reassignment or assuming a different gender later.
SG Mehta (reads definition of gender queer): Anything outside male female or having a different feeling of what is assigned - that's what I've read. I may be right or wrong.
CJI DY Chandrachud: You may be correct in saying that the definition of transgender persons covers the entire spectrum but gays and lesbians are completely different.
Sr Adv Saurabh Kirpal: This is not correct Mr Solicitor. A cis gender person cannot be a transgender person.
CJI DY Chandrachud: But, Mr Solicitor, everyone who is an L or a G- lesbians and gays- they're not transgenders.
SG Mehta: They would be gender queer.
CJI DY Chandrachud: No, no.
SG Mehta: Every other spectrum is included. Gender queer and persons with intersex variations include all categories.
SG Mehta: It includes persons with trans man, trans woman, persons with intersex variations, gender queer, persons having socio-cultural identity such as kinnar, Hijras etc
SG Mehta: If I show your lordships broadly the scheme of this act- first, transgenders (persons) the way in which we understand in colloquial parlance which is equivalent to eunuchs. That's not the way it's defined. See the act,it covers all spectrums & shades.