Transgender community in Pak rejects rights bill

The transgender community across Pakistan has rejected a rights bill, citing it was "misleading and inaccurate according to international standards and the United Nations."

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2017 was recently passed by the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights.

The Express Tribune quoted a member of the K-P Chief Minister's Special Committee on Rights of Transgender Persons, Qamar Naseem, as saying, "No doubt the passage of the bill is a landmark achievement, but the definition of transgender in it is misleading and inaccurate according to international standards and the UN."

However, the Bill still needs to be sent for the final approval.

"Provinces have to pass resolutions under Article 144 for the enactment of such a Bill but it is less likely to happen as three provinces are already drafting their own provincial bills," he said.

Shemale Association for Fundamental Rights President Nadeem Kashish said, "One of the major flaws in the bill is that in 2012, the Supreme Court had ordered that no one should be given transgender identity without a chromosome test, but the Bill states otherwise."

The Bill has reportedly been copied from India's 'The Transgender Persons (Protection Rights) Bill 2016'.