The Federal Shariat Court has nullified the landmark Transgender Protection of Rights Act 2018, ruling that transgender persons’ self-perceived identity is “repugnant” to Islamic injunctions.
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2018 accords transgender citizens the right to self-identify and is among the more progressive transgender bills globally. However, the bill recently faced opposition from extremist quarters in the country, who consider it to be “un-Islamic”.
The transgender community in Pakistan faces a number of legal and social issues, including incidents of violence and discrimination against members.
In its annual flagship report, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said that at least 12 trans persons were murdered in 2022 in an “unprecedented blow to the human rights situation of minorities in the country”.
HRCP had also criticised Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) senator from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, for launching a bid to have the Act repealed for promoting ‘the legalisation of homosexual marriages’.
The HRCP had that Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan’s constituency has seen hundreds of murders and gruesome cases of violence against transgender people in the past few years. There were six attacks in March 2022 alone, leading to five fatalities. However, the authorities took no action against the culprits.
