Yes to transgenders, no to homosexuals: Considerations on the seeming incoherences in the Indian Supreme Court's recent case-law

The protection of sexual orientation and gender identity is going through major changes in the Indian legal system following two important judgments recently delivered by the Supreme Court. This essay aims to shed light on some of the peculiar and sometimes controversial arguments which led the apex court to uphold a colonial-era law that criminalizes homosexuality but, a few months later, create the "third gender" status for transgender people and issue a series of directions to the Central and the State governments, including treating transgender persons as socially and educationally backward classes of citizens by extending reservations in public education and employment.