Abstract
The law in Nigeria recognizes people to be either male or female. These are the only two sexes that enjoy legal recognition. The idea that a person can be transgender remains an alien concept to the laws and traditions of Nigeria. The concept of a woman under Nigerian law
therefore retains its classic traditional definition. In other climes however it has been legally recognized that a person’s sex may differ from his/her gender. People choose to identify as transgender, non-binary or intersex, and clamour to be recognized as such. A person who chooses to identify as a transgender woman wants to be recognized by law and
society and as a woman, and as such any discourse on women’s rights should accommodate the transgender woman. But are transgender women really women in the true sense of the word? Should society abandon scientific reasoning in favour of these new concepts? Are transgender rights women’s rights? This research attempted to examine
these new concepts of gender and whether there is any weighty reason for abandoning the traditional definition of a woman. The writer concluded that transgender rights are not women’s rights, as the reasons proffered in favour classifying transgender women as women verge more on nonconformist ideas than on reality.
