In a temporary win for transgender trainee-pilot Adam Harry, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has requested him to submit a new application for medical assessment required for further training to become an airline pilot two years after he was told that a hormone therapy he was undergoing for gender transition rendered him “unfit” to fly.
The DGCA has also clarified that there were no restrictions on transgender people seeking pilot’s licence and a hormone therapy alone will not preclude anyone from flying.
The development follows a scathing letter from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to the DGCA on Monday calling its decision of denying a transgender person a commercial pilot licence “discriminatory” and violative of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. The Ministry has also urged the aviation regulator to lay down guidelines for licensing of transgender persons to become pilots and develop medical standards for them when they are under gender affirming hormone therapy. The Hindu reported on July 3 that the DGCA’s denial of a medical assessment to Mr. Harry while he was on a hormone treatment virtually rendered him incapable of becoming a commercial or an airline pilot as a trans-man in India.
