New York, NY/Islamabad, Pakistan, May 8, 2018. – In a key achievement for human rights in Pakistan, today the National Assembly passed the Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Bill 2018. The bill was introduced and championed by former Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) Board member Hon. Syed Naveed Qamar, Member of Parliament (Pakistan Peoples Party).
The Bill seeks to protect the rights of the transgender community including provisions to obtain a driver’s license and passport in the gender of choice and change gender in the National Database and Registration Authority. The Bill prohibits harassment of Trans people inside and outside their homes and discrimination in educational institutions, employment, trade, health services, public transportation; and buying, selling or renting property. The Bill also grants Trans people the right to inherit property and to vote in all provincial, local and national elections as well as to pursue public office.
“The National Assembly of Pakistan today passed my bill on the rights of the transgender people by an overwhelming majority. As it has already been passed by the Senate, today’s vote makes it law. As a PGA member I feel proud to have forwarded the agenda of the organisation on human rights protections on the basis of the principles of equality and non-discrimination,” said Honorable Qamar.
“We are very pleased that Hon. Qamar took this action in line with the goals of our Campaign against Discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI Campaign). It shows that sensitizing and connecting parliamentarians with each other to exchange best practices on human rights and empowering them with the tools and information such as those in UNDP/PGA’s SOGI Handbook for Parliamentarians can contribute to the critically-important efforts of local LGBTI activists to inspire legislative reform,” said PGA’s President Ms. Margareta Cederfelt, MP (Sweden).
The Transgender Persons Bill comes at a critical and urgent moment for the transgender community. On May 4, another transgender woman was killed in northwest Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) province. This is the fourth murder in this province and the 57th since 2015, according to local activists.
