# Kerala High Court seeks state reply on transgender devotee’s Sabarimala entry plea 2026-08-24T16:53:38+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Kerala High Court on Monday sought the state government's response to a petition by a transgender devotee who alleges she was denied entry to the Sabarimala temple because of her gender. A bench of Justice Gopinath P and Justice S Manu issued notice and posted the matter to September 3. The petitioner, Sathyashri Sharmila Rehemathali, who identifies as a transgender woman, said she reached Pamba on August 20 after observing the required rituals but was stopped by police around 3:30 PM near the Pamba Ganapathi Temple. She was told that the Travancore Devaswom Board had instructed police not to allow transgender persons to proceed uphill. She said the authorities refused to show her any written order imposing the restriction. The petitioner argues the sudden restriction is arbitrary and unconstitutional, citing Section 3(e) of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which prohibits denial of access to religious institutions. She had sought permission to visit the temple on August 26 for Thiruvonam, but the court did not grant that order. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The Sabarimala temple, governed by the Travancore Devaswom Board, has a long-standing custom of excluding women of menstruating age, a practice the Supreme Court struck down in 2018 but which remains contested. The petitioner relies on the Transgender Persons Act, 2019, which guarantees equal access to public places including religious institutions. The key issue is whether a transgender woman is entitled to the same access rights as cisgender women under the temple's current rules. The court's next hearing on September 3 may clarify whether the board has issued any formal directive restricting transgender devotees. ## Coverage - barandbench.com Straight news agency-style reporting with no discernible slant This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Kerala High Court, Sabarimala, Transgender Persons Act 2019, Travancore Devaswom Board Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/kerala-high-court-seeks-state-reply-on-transgender-devotees-sabarimala-entry-plea/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/kerala-high-court-seeks-state-reply-on-transgender-devotees-sabarimala-entry-plea/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/