Daily Times

In 2009, Pakistan’s Supreme Court calling on all provincial governments to recognise the rights of transgender people was celebrated as a historic occasion. Nearly ten years later, the parliament passed an unprecedented bill that allowed transgender people to self-identify and obtain documentation confirming their citizenship. But earlier this year, the Federal Shariat Court of Islamabad ruled that sections of the bill which related to self-perceived gender identity and the right of inheritance did not conform with Islamic principles-ceasing with immediate effect, the sections deemed “unIslamic” less than five years after the bill was first passed.

The gender identity bill was a huge step for Pakistan, allowing trans people to access housing and employment and ultimately flourish and achieve their full potential. But its revocation is not altogether surprising. Even if the bill hadn’t been amended, Pakistan largely lacks the institutional and legal mechanisms necessary to implement bills of this nature, especially progressive ones. On Tuesday, four Dolphin police officers assaulted a trans woman organising a gathering in her community. The very people who were meant to protect Masooma ended up assaulting her instead. Indeed, anyone who strays outside the male/female binary is immediately penalised in Pakistan.

Trans people continue to face harassment, mistreatment and social exclusion from all spheres of society. Often disowned by their own families and forced to live together in communities, trans people search for belonging wherever they can find it. Two years ago, trans rights activist Nayyab Ali was attacked in her home by two men who tortured her relentlessly for hours. It wasn’t until 27 members of the European Parliament wrote to the Pakistani government that the police filed a criminal report, a rare occurrence and a lucky one at that.

It doesn’t help that large areas of policy are still administered by provincial authorities who do not have their version of the 2018 Bill, making it difficult for trans people to seek legal recourse in the event of a crime. We must realise that we have the opportunity to be a pathbreaker and set the groundwork for what trans rights should look like elsewhere in the world-a law is only as good as the people who defend it. *