First trans woman to receive the Kerala State Film Award, actor Negha Shahin, took to her Instagram to oppose the recently passed Transgender Bill. She also called out Tamil stars Raghava Lawrence, Vijay Sethupathi and Kalidas Jayaram for gaining fame over playing transgender characters but not speaking up in support of the community now.
Negha opposes Transgender Bill
On Tuesday, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, was passed despite opposition from the transgender community, activists and opposition parties. Negha took to her Instagram to slam the bill. Posting a screenshot of the Lok Sabha session where the bill was passed, she wrote, “Have you asked any cis persons to determine their gender via a medical board?,” adding, “Im rise here to oppose the bill madam! On behalf of the dmk party presided by our honourable chief minister mk stalin warrior and pioneer of transrights.”
She captioned her post, “On behalf of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam—and under the leadership of our esteemed Chief Minister @mkstalin, a staunch champion and pioneer of transgender rights—I stand here to speak in opposition to the Transgender Bill 2026. Thank you for standing with us always our proud ally @__thamizhachi__.” Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said in a social media post that the BJP-led government must ‘pause, engage, and build a genuine consensus with transgender persons before moving forward.’
Calls out Tamil stars for not speaking in support
Negha has been actively posting in opposition to the Transgender Bill ever since news broke that it would be passed soon. She also posted a video to call out Sethupathi, Kalidas and Lawrence for playing trans characters but not speaking up. The three actors received acclaim for playing transgender characters in the films Super Deluxe (2019), Paava Kadhaigal (2020) and Kanchana (2011) respectively.
In a video, she said, “The renowned actor Vijay Sethupathi, along with Raghava Lawrence and Kalidas Jayaram, has publicly opposed the Transgender Bill. This is truly wonderful news…wouldn’t it be great if that happened? All these actors have played transgender characters on screen to support the transgender community. I believe that they will be heroes in real life and support human rights.” She also questioned political parties that did not speak out in support of the transgender community.
Negha is an actor and activist whose life story is included in a Class 8 textbook published by the Kerala State Council of Educational Research and Training. She is the founder of the non-profit organisation Queer Casting. She gained fame for her roles in the Malayalam film Antharam (2022) and the Tamil film The Road (2023) with Trisha Krishnan.
