Hundreds of transgender activists rallied in Karachi on Sunday to denounce discrimination against their community in Pakistan.
The demonstration took place a few days after the premiere on the screens of country of joya Pakistani film about a married man’s relationship with a transgender woman, which was initially banned under pressure from Islamist groups.
“The time has come to tell people who we are and what we are asking for,” Shahzadi Rai, one of the organizers, told AFP. “We are human beings and we have the same heart, the same feelings, the same emotions as you,” he added.
18 transgender people murdered in one year
Protesters marched chanting and holding banners demanding respect for the rights of transgender people.
“No matter your gender, you should have the same rights,” said Pakistani classical dance star Sheema Kirmani.
According to Amnesty International, 18 transgender people have been killed in Pakistan in one year. Although their rights are protected a priori by law, most transgender people in Pakistan are forced to live on the fringes of society, often having to beg, dance at weddings or engage in prostitution in order to survive.
The Joyland Movie Finally Authorized
In 2009, Pakistan, a country with a conservative and patriarchal culture, was one of the first in the world to legally recognize a third gender.
Then, in 2018, it passed a law giving transgender people the right to self-determine their gender on all official documents and even opt for a combination of both.
But these advances and all attempts to further protect the rights of transgender people in Pakistan have been fiercely resisted by Islamist parties who denounce the intrusion of Western values.
The movie country of joywho won the LGBT+ “Queer Palm” award in May at the Cannes Film Festival and who will represent Pakistan at the upcoming Oscars, was finally cleared last week, when the censorship authority overturned a government-imposed ban under pressure of the Islamist parties.
Source: BFM TV
