A small victory for Pakistan’s transgenders

Mark Magnier, LA Times

Published 03/03/2010

Reporting from Rawalpindi, Pakistan — Wearing a red knit bonnet, matching lipstick and a shawl over her large shoulders and muscular forearms, Nanni gently sought to clear up some confusion as the call to prayer sounded from a nearby mosque.

“I’m a ’she-male,’ ” said Nanni, a kind of den mother for a dozen or so fellow hijra, or transgender people, in a rundown neighborhood of Rawalpindi. “We all are.”

Sharing two small rooms halfway along a dark dirt alley and up a steep flight of steps, Nanni’s family is one made, not born: a community of outcasts forced together after their families abandoned them, their indeterminate sex unnerving this patriarchal society — especially the ascendant Pakistani Taliban.

“We are God’s creatures,” Nanni said. “Even if many people don’t accept us, we feel the same here in the den as if we are of the same blood. We do everything to take care of one another.”

Dominating one room was a rough-hewn double bed that the dozen or so hijra, some more than 6 feet tall, use in shifts. The walls were covered with pictures of hijra beauties of the Mughal era that ended more than a century ago, a time when transgender people were not only accepted but also enjoyed significant power and prestige.

Asked whether the hijra family members were all congenital eunuchs and hermaphrodites, Nanni, 35, insisted that they were all born that way. To prove the point, she ordered Akri, a hermaphrodite whose broad face was softened by mascara and a scarf, to drop her traditional outfit and show her private parts.

Hijra have long been stigmatized and subject to discrimination and abuse in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, with its rigorously defined roles for men and women. But in a landmark decision in December, the Supreme Court ordered that they be protected from police harassment, be eligible for a separate gender category on ID cards and be recognized under inheritance laws.

“We need proper rights,” said Noor, a 21-year-old member of Nanni’s household. “No one listens to our concerns.”

Although nascent legal status is a first step, social acceptance is likely to take far longer. Noor and the others said police officers and residents often beat, harass, rob and sexually abuse them.

“You get used to it,” said Nanni, who as the guru, or head of the hijra family, is combination parent, boss and enforcer. “It only shows how stupid their mentality is.”

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Youth Group Meeting

Come to the Youth Group Meeting!
Date: Saturday March 20th
Time: 4-6pm
Place: LGBT Center 208 W 13th Street

It’ll be lots of fun and you can meet cool new people.
Ages 24 & younger.

SALGA Youth Group is a safe, confidential place for queer South Asians between the ages of thirteen and twenty-four to discuss issues facing our community. Whether you need support coming out, or have questions about your legal rights as queer youth, or are just trying to connect with fellow South Asians, this is the space for you! Depending on what members want, the group can provide social events, community outings, discussions, and participation in political events.

SALGA NYC Youth is the youth branch of SALGA NYC, a volunteer organization which serves the needs the South Asian queer community both politically and socially in New York City.

Saturday 3/13 - SALGA Monthly Support Group Meeting

Join us on Saturday 3/13 for our monthly support group meeting.

Date: Saturday, March 13th, 2010
Time: 4pm - 6pm

Meeting location:
LGBT Center

Meeting Topic:
Healthcare

This meeting space is available for people who trace their descent from countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tibet as well as people of South Asian descent from other regions, including but not limited to the West Indies, Africa, Southeast Asia, Canada and the U.K.

The objective of the meeting is to provide a safe space for people where they can freely discuss and share aspects of their experiences as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning individuals.

Facilitators guide the meeting which provides the opportunity for open dialogue about issues important to the participants. Individuals decide on their own level of involvement.

It is the hope of SALGA that you feel welcome in this gathering and be able meet and make friends with people who can better understand, share and empathize with you.

Visit www.gaycenter.org for directions to the Gay and Lesbian Community Center.

“GENDA” Passes Assembly

ALBANY - The bill to protect transgender people under the State Human Rights Law was approved by the Assembly today by a vote of 91-40, with bi-partisan support.  The Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) is now in the State Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee.  If it passes the Senate, Governor David Paterson has said he will sign it into law.

“This is an important and overdue protection of human rights,” said Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried, sponsor of bill, A.5710-A.  “The experience of transgender individuals, and the discrimination they face, are unique, and should be specifically identified and unambiguously rejected in our State’s civil rights laws, just like discrimination based on age, sex, sexual orientation, religion, race, disability, or ethnicity.”

The transgender community is not protected under current state law.

“By eliminating the fear of losing their jobs, homes, and fair treatment in communities across the state, we can make certain that every New Yorker receives equal opportunities regardless of gender identity,” said Gottfried.

Albany, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City, and Rochester, and the counties of Suffolk and Tompkins have already enacted local GENDA laws.  Thirteen states, Washington, D.C., and over 90 other localities across the country have passed transgender-inclusive civil rights legislation.  Over 150 Fortune 500 companies, including 26 located in New York State, have policies in place to protect their transgender workers.

link: http://www.empirestatenews.net/News/20100303-3.html

Punjab creates ‘transgender’ job category for eunuchs

Fri, Feb 12 04:26 AM

The Punjab government has decided to create a separate category in application forms under which eunuchs can apply for government vacancies.

Although there was no bar on eunuchs to apply for government jobs, this is the first time the state has given them an option to choose their identity apart from the men and women categories.

Eunuchs aspiring for government jobs can now choose the new category — “transgender” — in application forms. But eventually those selected will be considered in the category of men, officials said.

The decision was taken on Wednesday at a meeting attended by Chief Secretary S C Aggarwal, Home Secretary A R Talwar and Punjab’s Additional Advocate General Rupinder S Khosla.

“The decision has been taken to pave way for eunuchs so that they can also be considered for government jobs. After all, they are also human beings,” Khosla told The Indian Express. “The decision to consider them in the category of men was taken as considering them in the category of women will not be a prudent keeping in view public sensitivities.”

He added that though the sex determination of a eunuch — whether male or female — was ruled out because of the costs involved. “It will be an expensive affair as each detection costs around Rs 2,500. Thus, in order to avoid undue burden on the state exchequer, the Punjab government has decided to keep them in the category of men,” Khosla added.

Appreciating the stand taken by the Punjab government, a division bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Jasbir Singh directed Haryana to clear its stand keeping in view the decision taken by the Punjab government. The Central government has also been asked to clarify whether eunuchs shall be considered in male or female category.

The development took place during the resumed hearing of a PIL filed by Kajal Mangal Mukhi, a eunuch who is an advocate by profession. Mukhi had sought directions for the states to allow eunuchs to join government services.

(link to full article on yahoo news)