In a first, transgender gets driving licence in Pak capital

In a first, Islamabad traffic authorities issued a driving licence to a transgender, 15 years after she first started driving a car, according to media reports.

Laila Ali, a leader of the transgender community who is listed as Mohammad Ali on her national identity card and driving licence, spoke to the police chief and informed him of the issues and problems, including victimisation by police, faced by the community members in the national capital, the Dawn reported.

During the discussion, the police chief assured her to address the grievances of the transgenders and offered to issue her a driving licence after he got to know that she has been regularly driving without a licence for 15 years now, according to a Geo TV report.

Laila, who is the president of the Rawalpindi-based Awaz Shemale foundation, learnt driving from her father in 2000, it said.

The Islamabad Police issued her the licence after administering all practical driving tests, the report said.

This was the first time that police has issued a driving licence to a transgender person in the capital city.

Pakistan has an estimated population of 5,00,000 transgenders.

In May, Pakistan Parliament passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, which established broad protections for the community members.

Earlier in March, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police issued driving licences to 30 transgenders, Geo TV reported.