“Using a public restroom might be the easiest thing for a non-LGBTQ person. But for a trans woman like me, it can be…a traumatic experience,” Leela told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in the capital, New Delhi, asking to use only his first name.
She recalls an incident several years ago when she was forced out of the women’s restroom after other women objected to her presence.
“Since then, I realized that I had no choice but to hold my pee,” she said.
Repeated retention of urine for long periods can cause abdominal pain and increase the risk of UTIs.
“It’s really inhumane,” said Fred Rogers, an LGBTQ+ activist from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, who filed a petition in the Madras High Court earlier this year to demand at least a gender-neutral bathroom in all public areas.
It is one of many such initiatives focused on improving access to trans bathrooms across the country of 1.4 billion people, where awareness of transgender rights issues is slowly rising.
India’s Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that trans people should be recognized as the “third gender”, extending rights that allow them to identify as their chosen sex, but prejudice and social marginalization persist.
Many are rejected by their families and deprived of jobs, education and health care, leading many trans women – also known in India as hijras – to survive by begging at busy intersections and in trains, attending social events such as weddings or selling sex.
Under the Transgender People (Protection of Rights) Act, trans people should have equal access to public services and not be discriminated against, but the toilet issue shows that this is often not the case in practice, Rogers said.
Bathroom bills
Access to public restrooms has become a flashpoint as a fierce debate over trans rights takes place around the world, particularly in the United States.
Following other states, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law earlier this year a so-called “toilet bill” requiring that all toilets or locker rooms in public facilities be used exclusively for people based on their sex assigned at birth.
LGBTQ+ rights activists say trans people should be able to access gender-segregated spaces based on their gender identity – from pool locker rooms to hospital wards.
Most public hospitals in India, for example, do not have specific services for trans people or do not allow them to be accommodated in services of the gender with which they identify.
But the bathroom problem is compounded in India by the lack of sanitation facilities in homes, many of which lack their own toilets – especially in poorer neighborhoods or slums. This means that shared installations are the only option for many.
In the eastern state of Assam, local LGBTQ+ group Drishti has launched a campaign called #NoMoreHoldingMyPee to highlight the issues faced by trans and non-binary people, who do not identify as either male or female.
“Being able to respond to the call of nature is fundamental. Although there are facilities available for both men and women, a trans person may feel threatened if they try to access them,” said Rituparna, member of the group that has a name.
Like activists in Tamil Nadu, the group is calling for gender-neutral toilets that can be used by anyone, regardless of sex or gender identity.
“Little step”
Five years after India legalized same-sex relationships, there are signs of change on the issue, say LGBTQ+ activists.
In March, the Delhi High Court ordered the city government to construct public toilets for trans people within eight weeks, following a successful petition by LGBTQ+ rights groups.
Delhi authorities responded that some 500 toilets originally intended for people with disabilities had been designated for use by trans people, adding that creating separate bathrooms for the third gender was now a priority.
Other public institutions such as universities are also beginning to take notice.
Vaivab Das, a researcher at the non-binary Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi, was behind the introduction of gender-neutral toilets at the college, which now has 12 such facilities.
More than 20 IIT campuses across the country have followed suit, Das said.
“Trans people have historically been removed from public spaces and denied the opportunity to access education, employment and other rights,” Das added.
“Making (the toilets) accessible to gender minorities is a small step towards repairing historical and systematic exclusions.”
