Transgender community wades through troubled waters

Pandemic and Ramazan have left them more vulnerable

LAHORE:

Treated as pariahs in the city they call home, members of Lahore’s transgender community feel more vulnerable during the pandemic and Ramazan.

Details gathered by the Express Tribune reveal, the government has not announced any financial support for the community, which has always struggled for its survival.

“We never had any real jobs, and the pandemic has made it even difficult for us to earn whatever we were able to earn,” said Shama, who identifies as a transgender person of feminine expression and also serves as the head of the community. “We have no resources or savings to fall back on,” she said, sobbing.

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic which has infected more than 296,000 people in Punjab alone, the transgender community has been forced to halt their activities.

Already shunned and abused, most in the community have restricted themselves to begging or prostitution to earn a living. But Covid-19-related safety protocols, which include social distancing, have completely confined them.

“Going out means we contract the virus. If we do, where do we get treated?” asked one irked member of the community, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity.

While communities, NGOs, and philanthropists focus on addressing the needs of the citizens, it appears the transgender community’s cries for help are falling on deaf ears. “There is no one who is paying attention to our needs during the pandemic and Ramazan,” said Shama from Lahore’s Johar Town area.

Survival

With survival being their main concern during the pandemic, the community is coming together to help its own. During Ramazan, the tight-knit group gathers and shares every meal. “We gather before dawn for sehri and then again for breaking our fast after sunset for the evening meal, called iftar,” revealed Shama.

No one, she said, has the financial resources to survive during this pandemic and Ramazan. “We are just trying to help each other with whatever we have,” said Shama, who serves as the guru. Without any compulsion, she explained, everyone brings whatever they can afford.

While most NGOs appear to have other priorities, one organization has displayed compassion and regularly offers assistance to Lahore’s beleaguered transgender community, who are commonly known as ‘khawaja siras’.

Talking to the Express Tribune, Anusha Tahir, who runs the Transgender Empowerment Campaign, urged people to sympathise with the community. “We should not hate them, but accept them as they are,” said Tahir.

Health issues

While the government claims healthcare facilities are being offered universally during the pandemic, medical experts at Lahore’s leading hospitals revealed, they’ve rarely treated or vaccinated patients from the transgender community.

They confirmed no separate arrangements had been made for members of the community. “I believe they have to come through the regular established systems for the coronavirus vaccination,” said one medical practitioner, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2021.