Upholding rights of transgenders

Over the decades, Pakistan’s transgenders have been forced to put up with all manner of discrimination and reprehensible behaviour, which includes subjecting them to social ridicule and ostracism, as well as preventing them from enjoying equal rights as citizens of the state. However, recent months have seen some positive developments with regard to ensuring that transgenders are given their due rights. The latest move in this quest taken up by the Supreme Court is its ruling that transgenders enjoy all the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and that among other rights, they should have inheritance rights, as well as equal employment opportunities.

While this ruling augurs well for the community, it is still a sad reflection on its plight that the highest Court in the land has to intervene to protect its rights, instead of lawmakers, people in positions of authority and common citizens, ensuring this of their own accord. A few months ago, the landmark development that gave the community the right to vote only came about after the Court’s intervention, which ordered that the option for a third sex — transgender — should be included in national identity cards. Hopefully, our parliamentarians will now pay more heed to the countless problems that transgenders face.

The various branches of government at the federal, provincial and local levels must ensure that the Court’s orders are followed in letter and in spirit. But above all, the prevalent attitudes in society with regard to transgenders need to undergo a transformation. Society needs to accord the community the respect and dignity due to it and take further measures to integrate it into mainstream society. In this regard, apart from the legal aspect that is involved in upholding their rights, Pakistanis need to shed their biases against transgenders, who often end up getting abandoned by their own families. We need to welcome them in our educational institutions, workplaces and homes and discard the decades-old prejudices ingrained in our minds.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2012.