Article 25 of the Constitution of our Islamic Republic lays a foundation for every citizen of Pakistan, based on one common principle: equality for all. This gives each man and woman, being inhabitants of a town or city in Pakistan the same protection before the law as well as of the law. One would think that based upon this egalitarian system of governance, transgenders, also known as ‘Khawaja Sara’would be safeguarded in the very same manner. However, given the history of not only Pakistan but also the subcontinent, transgenders have consistently been treated as children of a lesser God. It may be safe to suspect this discrimination dates back to the rule of the British Raj. As author Jessica Hinchy puts it, “when the colonisers discovered a gender variant community of Hijras who violated the elaborate hierarchy, they sought to discipline and erase this group from society through the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871.” This act was ultimately and agreeably repealed post-independence in 1949. Today, however, it is quite evident that this prejudice has trickled down to the 21st century where let alone the identity but not even the rights of our transgender community have been effectively identified. The concern around transgender is very simple and the solution is even more, should we choose to educate ourselves. But for this, it is important to understand who exactly falls under the definition of a transgender. To put it simply, transgender is anyone with a mixture of male and female genital features or ambiguous genitalia, which draws a clear and unequivocal distinction from the classic male and female gender. The ambiguity lies in the fact that various classifications have been unnecessarily tossed under the umbrella of transgender, including congenital eunuchs, hermaphrodites (khusras), transvestites (zenanas) and transsexuals (narbans), giving rise to much uncertainty. At times, the term transgender has been wrongly known to include lesbians, gays and even bisexuals (LGB), which, due to much disinformation, is just where the controversy begins. Despite the Supreme Court’s significant verdict, transgenders are persistently misunderstood as their true characteristics remain misinterpreted, unacknowledged and scorned. The first real step to recognise the status of transgenders was by way of an Order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 25 September 2012 vide Constitutional Petition No. 43 of 2009 and titled Dr M Aslam Khaki vs. SSP Taxila & others. This affirmed the citizen’s rights of the transgender community along with a direction that “government functionaries both at federal and provincial levels are bound to provide them the protection of life and property and secure their dignity as well, as is done in the case of other citizens.” Following this landmark judgment, there was certain progress: the National Database and Registering Authority (NADRA) was led to register eunuchs as voters; In 2016, Muslim clerics in Lahore issued a fatwa permitting Khawaja Sara marriages; their due share in inherited property was confirmed; the practice of elders abandoning transgender children to gurus, which ultimately leads them into beggary or prostitution was correctly criminalized, etc. – all major feats. Yet, with no law in place for their fair and proper protection, transgenders continued to exist as a marginalised sect, with 51% earning a living from dancing/entertaining, 15% from prostitution, and 12% from begging. Despite the Supreme Court’s significant verdict, transgenders are persistently misunderstood as their true characteristics remain misinterpreted, unacknowledged and scorned. It was after a yawning gap of six years that the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018 was passed, finally conferring on them, as per law, a much-needed identity. Moreover, this statute set in stone the rights of Transgenders, as enjoyed by each and every Pakistani citizen, including but not limited to right to inheritance, education, employment, health, assembly, etc. Alas, the conflict was quick to follow. In the words of Fidel Castro, “A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle between the future and the past.” The struggle continues today with, on the one hand, the law being termed by proponents such as the International Commission of Jurists to be amongst the most progressive of statutes on Transgender rights but on the other hand, opponents have raised serious objections, labelling the Act as un-Islamic, campaigning on social media to #amendtransact and #behudabillwapislo. The Act today is subject to amendment, its fate lies with the Majlis-e-Shoora, specifically the Senate where a Bill for proposed changes has been put forth. Critics believe the definition of Transgender in the 2018 Act to be vague and open-ended and suggest deleting sections 2(n)(ii) and 2(n)(iii) which will severely limit the definition of Transgender. The bill also suggests the removal of section 3 whereby the Transgender has a right to be recognized as “his or her self-perceived gender identity”. The alleged reasoning behind these omissions is that to be able to choose one’s own gender, especially on government documentation is against the teachings of Islam and will inevitably open the floodgates to same-sex marriages. An extremely vocal critic of the existing legislation, Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan fears placing reliance on a self-perceived gender identity poses a grave threat to the inheritance system wherein male and female shares differ and it is thus unacceptable to allow a population of 330 million to choose their own sex. However, one wonders, that when the adversaries of the Act refer to transgender as an American term having no place in Islam or Pakistan as it gives rise to homosexuality, are they discarding the very existence of this community or are they simply misinformed? Fact check: there are three categories before NADRA being male, female and X and NADRA is only to adjust gender from male to X or female to X, that too upon the submission of a government hospital medical board certification and further verification by NADRA as to its authenticity, therefore leaving no room for whimsical gender re-assignments. Fact check: In Islam, the human body, like the soul, is a gift from Allah and so, a human being does not possess absolute ownership of his body. Further, any permanent modifications to the human body are prohibited. At the same time, the Holy Quran is silent with regard to transgenders. Nevertheless, when 1100 verses of the Holy Quran can speak of science, perhaps the injunctions of Islam may be better deciphered by way of ‘Ijtihad’ and independent reasoning by an expert to ascertain the fate of transgenders, an undeniably prominent part of society, who have now been downtrodden for far too long. Not everything is black and white and there is much more to the Transgender community than meets the eye. Accordingly, for their facilitation, the PM strategic reforms unit and the ministry of human rights have set up the transgender citizen complaint management system. After all, whilst Article 2 of our constitution prescribes Islam as the state religion, Article 9guarantees the security of a person ensuring there will be no deprivation of life or liberty save in accordance with the law. Transgenders are killed in Pakistan routinely and unapologetically for the one and only crime that is their identity. One thing is certainly as clear as day: the brutality, the negligence, the prohibition of transgenders, God’s unique creation, must end. The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore. She can be reached at zoe.khan@ramdays.com