Transgenders : Applying for blue book is passport to humiliation

Transgenders : Applying for blue book is passport to humiliation

BENGALURU: Getting a passport is more than an arduous task, feel transgenders. The existing rules make it a long and humiliating experience, say members of the community.

In response to a recent RTI query filed by Bengaluru-based Alternative Law Forum (ALF), the Regional Passport Office (RPO) said transgenders applying for passports need to produce a sworn affidavit on the sex change along with a certificate from a surgeon/government hospital where they have undergone medical treatment/examination. They also have to produce two identity proofs bearing their new name and gender.

"The certificate is granted following a thoroughly invasive investigation, during which our genitals, breasts, hair, finger and finger nails are measured. This humiliating process violates our rights and privacy, and is something no one should ever have to go through," said Sana Sree, a transwoman and director of Swatantra Organisation, who got her passport a few years ago.