India's Supreme Court has recognized transgender people as a third gender, in a landmark ruling. <br />"It is the right of every human being to choose their gender," it said in granting rights to those who identify themselves as neither male nor female. <br />It ordered the government to provide transgender people with quotas in jobs and education in line with other minorities, as well as key amenities. <br />According to one estimate, India has about two million transgender people. <br />In India, a common term used to describe transgender people, transsexuals, cross-dressers, eunuchs and transvestites is hijra.
