Christy Raj: India’s first transgender journalist

merinews.com

Under the Indian Constitution, all citizens have been guaranteed ‘equality before the law’. Article 15 prohibits discrimination ‘on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth’; and Article 21, guarantees ‘protection of life and personal liberty’.

To ensure these rights, in July 2009, the Supreme Court of India annulled Article 377 of the same Constitution that criminalised homosexuality and therefore, violated these three rights.

Christy Raj of Bangalore was 22 when the verdict came, fighting a case in which the city police had falsely implicated him.