NEW DELHI, April 15 (UPI) -- India's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that citizens are free to self-identify their gender.
The ruling came about after a 2012 lawsuit that was brought by India's National Legal Services Authority on behalf of transexual and third-gender communities.
Tripti Tandon, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs, explained that "The Supreme Court ruled that everyone has the fundamental right to have their gender identified and recognized in the law without any discrimination ... And it's self-identification of the gender as opposed to medically or surgically assigned one."
Amnesty International India Program Director Shashikumar Velath applauded the court ruling, but noted that the same Supreme Court has upheld a law that criminalizes homosexual relationships.
[CNN]
