Chennai: A transgender person moved Madras high court seeking a direction to National Medical Council (NMC) and govt to stop “unethical practices” and breach of World Professional Association for Transgender Health Guidelines (WPATH) protocol at the two transgender clinics in the state.
A division bench of Justice S S Sundar and Justice P Dhanabal directed NMC and Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare department to respond to the PIL in four weeks.
According to the petitioner, while Tamil Nadu was one of the two states to have exclusive transgender clinics, the staff at such clinics often acted in violation of WPATH Standards of Care as mandated under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019, while dealing with persons seeking gender affirmation surgeries.
“In 2022, govt launched transgender clinics at Rajiv Gandhi Govt General Hospital in Chennai and Govt Rajaji Hospital in Madurai. These hospitals have clinics that offer counselling, obstetricians and surgeons on designated days of a week for transgender persons,” the petitioner said.
The petitioner said several transgender persons who visit these clinics experienced unethical behaviour by the staff. Most were asked to strip, and the staff also performed the banned two-finger test on them, the petitioner added.
The petitioner sought directions to the two hospitals to eliminate unethical, objectionable, medically unnecessary practices being conducted on transgender persons. The petitioner also urged the court to direct the state and Union authorities to formulate a standard protocol for medical institutions to follow when performing gender affirmation surgeries.
The petitioner told the court that in absence of technical and operational protocols for gender-affirming procedures, the mandate under section 15(e) of the Transgender Persons Act would be defeated.
Courtesy : TOI
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