Transgender Rights: A Concept Unknown in Pakistan

With one bad news after another, the country can’t seem to catch a break. Transgender rights have always been a rather sensitive and taboo issue in Pakistan, one people would much rather ignore and subside than acknowledge.

Even though, what we fail to realize is that there is nothing wrong with such individuals, they are just as much of a human as the rest of us and deserve the very same right as us. However, transgenders face heavy discrimination all across Pakistan; they are constantly ridiculed, looked down upon, and declined employment due to which most of them are left with no option but to either take the streets as beggars or certain other odd jobs.

This hit another level of extreme when a famous transgender activist, Gun Panra, was shot dead by an unidentified gunman. Not only this but within a few days on 11th September, a man, Saad was also murdered in cold blood by his brother!

This sparked an outcry within the transgender community along with the rest of the population. transgender rights are constantly denied and pushed aside, their problems are not considered as serious issues and the injustices against them are barely registered; they are always seen as beneath the general public.

The people in Pakistan have had just about enough of this sheer ignorance and insensitivity, they demand justice! They demand proper implementation of laws protecting transgender rights. In an attempt to do so, the transgender community arranged a protest on 15th September in multiple locations across Pakistan to stand in solidarity with the victims of such abuse and as an act to urge the government to take appropriate action.

This particular protest was led by Bindiya Rana, president of Gender Interactive Alliance Pakistan (GIAP), that works for the rights of the transgender community. Their protest came forward with a list of demands to provide a safe living space for the transgender community: to stop the killing of transgender people; stop raping children, women, and trans members; stop kidnapping transgender people; arrest and punishment of culprits; formation of a proper law and order mechanism for transgender protection and safety; reserved seats for the transgender community in government and non-government bodies; proper education system development inclusive of the transgender community; and proper access to health services for transgender people.

Transgenders are officially known as a third gender and are in no way any different from the rest of us. The treatment they are receiving due to this is incredibly inhumane and barbaric, we must raise our voices together for issues that truly matter and reinstate transgender rights in Pakistan.

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