Kerala High Court Orders Gender-Neutral Parental Designation for Transgender Couple in Birth Certificate Case
In a significant pronouncement advancing the legal recognition of gender identity and non-traditional family structures, the High Court of Kerala has directed that a transgender couple be recognised solely as "parents"&mdash;eschewing the traditional "mother" and "father" labels&mdash;in their child&rsquo;s birth certificate.
The order, passed by Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. sitting on a vacation bench, came in response to a writ petition filed by a transgender couple seeking rectification of the gendered terminology originally used by the Kozhikode Corporation in issuing the child&rsquo;s birth certificate.
The petitioners, Zahhad (a trans man) and Ziya Paval (a trans woman), had approached the Court after the civic authority listed Zahhad as "mother" and Ziya as "father", contrary to their self-identified genders. Zahhad, the biological parent who delivered the child, has consistently identified as male and lives accordingly. The couple contended that the mischaracterisation on an official document amounted to a denial of their fundamental rights under the Constitution.
Their legal counsel, Padma Lakshmi, herself the first transgender lawyer in Kerala, submitted that the refusal to recognise the couple in accordance with their gender identity constituted a violation of Article 14, which guarantees equality before the law. It was argued that the constitutional understanding of "person" under Article 14 was not confined to the binary of male and female, and that the petitioners were entitled to legal protection and recognition in all spheres of public life.
The Court agreed, finding merit in the plea for gender-neutral recognition. In the operative portion of the order, the Court directed the Kozhikode Corporation to &ldquo;issue [a] birth certificate with the modification by removing the columns of names of father and mother and by incorporating the names of the petitioners as parents without referring to their genders.&rdquo;
While the detailed judgment is awaited, the order reflects adherence to the principles enunciated by the Supreme Court in National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India (2014), wherein it was held that transgender persons have the right to self-identify their gender and are entitled to all constitutional rights and protections.
The petitioners had further submitted that compelling them to adopt gender-specific parental terms not only contradicted their lived realities but could also expose their child to avoidable confusion and potential discrimination in contexts such as educational admissions and issuance of identity documents including Aadhaar, PAN, and passports.
By allowing the writ petition, the Kerala High Court has affirmed the primacy of personal identity and dignity in matters of official recognition, while setting a precedent that may influence broader policy and administrative practices relating to gender-diverse families.

High Court recognises transgender couple as "parents" in a progressive birth record ruling.

Kerala HC Allows Gender-Neutral Birth Certificate

High Court recognises transgender couple as "parents" in a progressive birth record ruling.

June 3, 2025 | 10:57 IST

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