New Delhi (CNN) -- In a ruling that human rights groups are calling historic, India's Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the country's transsexual and transgender individuals the right to self-identify their gender. The ruling means transsexual and transgender people and those who identify as belonging to the "third gender" will not be required to submit medical evidence of their sexuality to be recognized by the government as a member of that gender, said Tripti Tandon, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs. A plea was filed before the Supreme Court by India's National Legal Services Authority in 2012 on behalf of the transsexual and "hijra," or third-gender, communities.
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India's Supreme Court says people have the right to self-identify their gender
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Human rights groups say it is a victory for transgender and transsexual community
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But homosexual relationships are still criminalized
But, he noted, the same @placeholder has overturned a lower court's decision to decriminalize homosexual relationships.