Indian eunuchs get separate sex category “other” in electoral rolls

[Naveed Yaseen]

NEW DELHI: The Indian Election Commission on Thursday accepted eunuchs and transsexuals as an independent entity, allowing their listing under a newly-created category named “other”. Eunuchs would no longer have to register as males or females, which had been the case earlier. Chief electoral officers in all states have been asked to direct the enumerators to indicate their sex as “O” if they desired, the Election Commission said in an announcement. It said the category would also apply to all Election Commission forms that require the mentioning of a voter’s gender. “In electoral rolls prepared by the Election Commission of India, eunuchs were hitherto registered either as male or as female, on the basis of the statement made by the person concerned. This practice was being followed so far for indicating the sex of eunuchs in the electoral roll,” it said. The commission said it had been receiving representations from various individuals and interest groups to include eunuchs in the electoral rolls under an independent category. “The commission has duly considered the request and has decided to allow eunuchs/transsexuals to indicate their sex as ‘other’ where they do not want to be described as male or female,” it added. iftikhar gilani

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