PPP to defend Transgender Protection Act: Farhatullah

ISLAMABAD: PPP Parliamentarians Secretary General Farhatullah Babar has said the PPP will defend the Transgender Protection Act 2018 and, if needed, will also reach out to all those who have launched a campaign against it to remove misunderstandings about the Act circulated on the social media.

“Never before a law duly passed by the parliament has been so grossly misunderstood and so grossly misinterpreted, misconceptions have fuelled more hatred in the society against transgender people and further endangered their lives as witnessed in attacks on them. So it is necessary to correct the perspective and remove misconceptions,” he said at a press conference at the National Press Club, Islamabad, organised by the transgender community on Saturday.

Babar said a petition had been filed with the Federal Shariat Court in this regard. He said confusion had been created by misunderstandings that the Act allowed change in gender from male to female or vice versa. “This is absolutely wrong,” he said, adding: “No male can modify his gender as female nor can any female modify her gender as male under the Act.” He said it was also wrong to link the law to promotion of sexual vices as the law did not talk of marriages of transgender persons and was only about the rights of the most persecuted community.

“It is about guaranteeing the rights to life, education, health, employment and inheritance that have been guaranteed to all citizens by the Constitution,” he said.

Referring to the condition of medical examination now proposed in an amendment to the Act moved by a senator, he said the Nadra issued about 125,000 cards daily and 56% of them were women. “Nadra did not ask any man or woman to prove his/her gender, then why discriminate against transgender people,” he asked? He said transgender citizens could only get an X card, not that of a male or a female. “If the state trusts male or female ID card applicants, why should a transgender citizen have to undergo humiliation before receiving an X card?” he said.