Gender and identity: New questions arise

On the Transgender Persons Amendment Bill, social media addiction trial verdicts, GLP-1 weight loss drugs, the new Covid-19 variant, and more

The biggest news story this week, forget health story, was the effort to fix the Transgender Persons Amendment Bill that went south quickly. The government introduced the Amendment Bill in Parliament claiming it intended to correct the flaws of the original Act. It created a huge storm in India, with the Opposition walking out and the LGBTQIA+ community across the country protesting on the streets. Their main complaints were that the new amendment removed the principle of gender self determination, there was an unfortunate conflation between the concepts of sex and gender identities, and that the community that it was meant to benefit was not consulted at all in a move that would affect their quality of life drastically. 

We have reported this extensively, in our columns. Gopi Shankar Madurai writes a striking critique of the Transgender Persons Amendment Bill, calling it a flawed fix. The article lists: “It narrows the definition of “transgender person” to only specific socio-cultural identities such as kinner, hijra, aravani, jogta, eunuch, or biologically-defined intersex variations, or persons forcibly compelled into such an identity through mutilation, castration, amputation, or any surgical, chemical or hormonal procedure.”

“It explicitly excludes persons with different sexual orientations and non-heteronormative gender fluid identities. The Bill removes the right to “self-perceived gender identity” from Section 4(2), replaces the simple District Magistrate process with a medical board “authority” headed by a Chief Medical Officer, and mandates hospitals to report every transgender surgery to the District Magistrate and the authority.”

Notwithstanding this very strong opposition, the Parliament passed the Bill, as we have reported, without any meaningful debate or discussion, or addressing the elephant in the room. However, that is not all: the protests continue. And as Abhinay Lakshman reports, in a further development, the Supreme Court-appointed panel asks Centre to withdraw Transgender Bill that removes right to gender self-determination. They have made the plea on the grounds that the proposal to “deny self-identification” of gender went against the decision of the Supreme Court in the 2014 NALSA v Union of India verdict.

Meanwhile, Ragavi M. and Ashna Butani report that two members from the National Council for Transgender Persons – southern representative Kalki Subramaniam and north east representative Rituparna Neog resigned. They called the amendment Bill “a step backward for our fundamental rights to self-identification and dignity”. Read here. Organisations have also written to the President of India, urging her not to grant assent to the Transgender Amendment Bill. The letter was written by All-India Feminist Alliance (ALIFA), a pan-India collective of grassroots organisations, along with the National Alliance for Justice, Accountability and Rights (NAJAR); the groups said they were ‘extremely alarmed and distressed at the undue and unjustifiable haste’ with which the Bill was passed in Parliament. However, President Droupadi Murmu has given her assent to the Bill, the Union Law Ministry said in a gazette notification on March 30, 2026.

Here’s The Hindu’s editorial on the controversial Bill: A shade of dark.

It does seem that all is not yet over with the Transgender Amendment Bill, we are keeping a watch on it for you. 

There has been another issue that has exercised people across the world, and that is to do with social media addiction and children. A Los Angeles ⁠jury found Alphabet’s Google and Meta liable for $3 million in damages on March 25, 2026, in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit. This might set the stage for other successful trials against these large companies, as more and more evidence emerges that they have deliberately ignored or aided in addiction-causing behaviour among teens and children. Additionally, a  New Mexico jury also said Meta harms children’s mental health and safety, violating state law.

Some part of that discussion is happening in India as well, particularly in Karnataka: in the State, a draft policy on ‘Responsible Digital Use Among Students’ sets goals for parents, schools. For a lowdown on what this is all about do watch this video  by Rishita Khanna, Ravichandran N. Afshan Yasmeen writes about the recent NIMHANS study that flags rising parental concern over children’s screen time. Researchers say that parents are increasingly reporting difficulties in regulating their children’s technology use, especially when it begins to interfere with sleep, studies and daily routines.

For the flip side of it, here is a story from Telengana, where Lavpreet Kaur writes about Meta alerts and the local police’s response in stopping suicides. Do read, here.

There is some regulatory action that cannot have come sooner. As Semaglutide slipped off patent and Indian pharma will now be able to manufacture the drug, there has been a sudden uprising of concern about quality of the drugs and fakes reaching the marker. Bindu Shajan Perappadan reports that the Centre intensifies regulatory surveillance over GLP-1 weight loss drugs. Telangana, too, cautions against unsupervised semaglutide use amid rising drug demand for weight loss.

Moving on to the topic of infectious diseases, here’s a study that says antibiotic resistance fuels 87% of India’s typhoid economic burden. Antibiotic-resistant typhoid infections accounted for at least 87% of India’s disease-related economic burden in 2023, according to a study in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia. The total economic burden due to typhoid fever was estimated at ₹123 billion. Divya Gandhi reports that Nipah virus could turn into something “far more severe”, scientists warn. Kyle B. Enfield in The Conversation warns that a new COVID-19 variant BA.3.2 is spreading quickly across U.S.– and explains what you need to know.

This election season, we had better be mindful of the heat. We know in 2024, the heat turned out to be fatal for many polling officers on the field. In order to avoid the same situation, one needs to be watchful As Kerala goes to vote on April 9, the State’s Health department has issued guidelines. Others will do well, including the Central Election Commission, to put out such guidelines.

In our busy explainer series, there’s a bunch of different subjects that you can sift through:

Dr. S. Sumathi argues that your eyes can get sunburnt too, and: here’s what you can do to protect them 

This article is for those who follow make up trends, going by social media hype. Athira Elssa Johnson explains how your skincare routine maybe wrong: experts flag increasing skin damage from misinformation. She also explains why the tendency to overlook and dismiss perimenopause must change

Zubeda Hamid in the In Focus Podcast finds out: How to make a living will? In another episode, she discusses: Does India have enough health professionals to care for its rising senior population? And with the Shigella cases in India, do check out all you need to know about: shigellosis

A.S. Jayanth writes on the surging cost of health care in Kerala

Abhilasha Semwal points out that as digital health gets a push, there is a price to pay and asks who will bear these costs for the underpaid ASHA workers

Aditi Prasad Apte brings an important issue to the limelight: Are we over-supplementing with vitamins?

Dr. Arun Kumar K. tells you why so many patients delay seeking help for urological symptoms

Also read: 

Vasudevan Mukunth Quiz: On outbreaks, infamous cases 

Viney Kirpal When death gives life

Dennis S. Jesudasan: T.N. government releases draft State Mental Healthcare Regulations, 2026

Dr. Abdul Ghafur: Reclaiming India’s fragrance heritage — why a name matters

Better public awareness, physician training, and clear labelling on salt crucial to preventing hypertension, survey finds.

Published – March 31, 2026 04:48 pm IST