Indian top court recognises transgenders in landmark ruling

NEW DELHI, April 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - India's top court on Tuesday recognised the country's long marginalised transgender community as a third gender and, in a landmark judgment lauded by human rights groups, called on the government to ensure their equal treatment.

There are hundreds of thousands of transgenders in India, say activists, but because they are not legally recognised, they are ostracised, discriminated against, abused and often forced into prostitution.