Kochi, June 2 -- The Kerala High Court on Monday directed authorities to issue a gender-neutral birth certificate for the child of a transgender couple, ruling that both parents should be identified simply as "parent" instead of "mother" or "father".

Justice Ziyad Rahman A A issued the order on a plea filed by Zahhad, a trans man, and Ziya Paval, a trans woman.

Disposing of the plea, the court directed the Kozhikode Corporation to issue the birth certificate in Form 5, with a modification by removing the columns set apart for the names of the father and mother, and by incorporating the names of petitioners one and two as parents, without referring to their genders.

In their plea, the couple had alleged that local authorities refused to...