In a groundbreaking move, the Regional Passport Office in Bengaluru has issued a passport for five-year-old Avin Akkai Padmashali, listing only his transgender mother, Akkai Padmashali, on the document without mentioning the father’s name. This milestone comes after Akkai, a human rights activist, was recently granted a divorce from her cisgender husband, Vasudev, and was awarded sole custody of their adopted son, Avin.

Akkai Padmashali expressed that this development is a significant recognition of the challenges faced by single, divorced transgender women. She pointed out that this is the first time in India that a transgender woman’s name alone has been listed as the mother on a passport, marking a positive step toward inclusion and acknowledging the changing family dynamics for the transgender community.

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