Transgender Persons Act is not about religion, but about politics

The Transgender Individuals (Safety of Rights) Act, handed in 2018 for the aim of offering elementary human rights to the Khwajasira (transgender) group of Pakistan, has lately sparked a brand new debate within the nation. 4 years after the invoice’s passing within the parliament, right-wing political events have come ahead to sentence the invoice as they consider that the invoice promotes “homosexuality” and “anybody can get his/her intercourse modified”, which could result in “new social issues”.

A lot of individuals began supporting this agenda on social media because of disinformation being unfold by the religio-political events. This piece is aimed to analyse these clauses of the Transgender Individuals Act which might be being twisted to current a sure false narrative, the best way transgender individuals see this debate, and what will be the influence of this incitement of hatred in opposition to transgender people.

The invoice begins with the definition of a transgender individual as:

(a) intersex with combination of female and male genital options,

(b) eunuch who’s assigned male at delivery however later undergoes surgical procedure,

(c) a transgender individual whose gender identification differs from the social expectations of the gender they had been assigned at delivery.

The second chapter of the invoice talks in regards to the recognition of the identification of transgender individuals by sustaining that these people can get themselves recognized on the idea of “self-perceived identification” underneath the provisions of this invoice. In different phrases, any one who falls underneath the class of any of the aforementioned three clauses can get registered as a transgender. Within the Computerized Nationwide Id Card (CNIC), there are three choices supplied for gender: ‘M’ for males, ‘F’ for females, and after the Transgender Individuals Act 2018, transgender people can register as ‘X’.

The remaining chapters of the invoice focus on the prohibition of discrimination in opposition to trans individuals, authorities’s obligations in the direction of this group, and the safety of rights of this gender group.

Now, right-wing events have misinterpreted the definition of “transgender” talked about within the invoice to additional their political agendas underneath the pretext of homosexuality. If we probe into the connection amongst gender identification, gender expression and gender assigned at delivery, Iran is among the Muslim international locations that may be taken for example to know the scenario from an Islamic perspective. In Iran, homosexuality is a punishable crime, the place punishment ranges from receiving lashings to demise sentences. Nonetheless, Iran can also be one of many Muslim international locations which supplies its trans residents the proper to have their gender identification acknowledged and recognised by regulation. For the reason that Islamic Revolution in Iran, a fatwa was handed to declare hormone-replacement remedy and gender-confirmation surgical procedure as religiously acceptable procedures.

Pakistan’s regulation minister, Azam Nazeer Tarar, talked about in a press convention that the invoice was handed in 2018 after in search of approval from the Islamic Ideology Council of Pakistan in addition to the non secular management within the parliament. Rehashing this debate, 4 years after the invoice was handed, is nothing greater than a political stratagem utilizing the faith card.

To debate the delicacy of this matter, I spoke to a transgender medical scholar in Karachi, Masooma, who stated:

“A lot of transgender individuals have been killed in Karachi and different areas after the hate speeches made by some non secular political events. Numerous politicians belonging to those non secular events are operating a vendetta in opposition to the Transgender Individuals Act underneath the guise of stopping ‘similar intercourse marriages’, however they’ve did not convey up even a single clause of the Act which states something relating to the wedding or household of transgender individuals. They’re making a complete lot of fuss about a difficulty that has not even been talked about within the stated Act.”

There’s additionally a debate happening among the many non secular vendettas in regards to the medical examination of transgender individuals earlier than issuing them their CNICs. Sharing her views on the problem, Masooma said:

“No medical diagnostic process or tools is out there in Pakistan to declare sure people as really trans-persons, and the invoice provides nobody a free hand to get their gender documented as per their very own want. Nobody can do this.”

To invigorate this argument, the Nationwide Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) doesn’t have a file of even a single registration the place a person masqueraded himself to be a girl on his CNIC and vice versa for the reason that passing of this invoice in 2018. This truth alone contradicts the narrative being put ahead by the non secular political events.

Different activists additionally keep that no provision is out there within the legal guidelines or Islamic jurisprudence in Pakistan relating to the wedding of transgender individuals.

“If a person has a gender identification battle and goes to NADRA to get his gender modified within the paperwork, his gender might be modified from that of M (male) to X (transgender). Pakistan is a rustic the place no marriage regulation exists for the transgender individuals,” quotes Mehrub Moiz Awan, a well-liked and vocal transgender activist.

Therefore, creating a difficulty out of a non-existent facet is completely baseless and is just being performed to bag votes within the upcoming elections subsequent 12 months. The transgender group is placing of their most effort to let their voices be heard however a big a part of the inhabitants tends to consider within the concocted non secular descriptions with out investigating the true nature of the problem. Finally, that is leading to a rise in violence and hatred in opposition to the transgender group, who’re already a marginalised section of our society.