Transgender woman Akkai Padmashali of Karnataka, India traveled to Tokyo on her newly issued passport (identifying her a female) to attend a conference and address approximately 5000 legal professionals from the the International Bar Association on "Mr., Ms. or Mx.? Legal issues facing transgender persons’. The conference is to run October 19-24. Ms. Padmashali's special session is set to focus on "key differences and tensions" between laws and political considerations behind them.
Ms. Padmashali told The Hindu that her talk would focus on the violence and human rights violations faced by transgenders in India as well as issues of civic identity. “I will also talk about the recent Supreme Court judgment on transgenders that is very radical in the way it defines the community and elucidates its rights.
In April the Indian Supreme Court created a "third gender" status for hijras/transgender people. Previously they were forced to identify their gender as male or female.
The Court also asked the Governmental Administration to classify transgender people as economically disadvantaged.
The apex court said that transgenders will be allowed admission in educational institutions and given employment on the basis that they belonged to the third gender category.
The Court said that the absence of law recognizing hijras as third gender could not be continued as a ground to discriminate against them in availing equal opportunities in education and employment. Transgender people will be classified as OBCs (other backward class).