Church lauds Pakistan help for transgendered

A CATHOLIC rights activist in Pakistan has lauded government efforts in forming alliances to benefit the transgender community.

“It will help in the long struggle for justice for the most neglected strata of our society. There is even no visible Church response to such people who are discriminated and considered an outcast community by society,” said Hector Nihal, Catholic director of the AIDS Awareness Society (AAS) that a Franciscan priest founded in 1993.

Nihal was referring to the national alliance for rights of transgender people formed this month in four provinces. District judges have been appointed as heads of the alliances, which only comprise transgender people as members.

The formation is regarded as a major advancement after the Supreme Court last year declared Pakistan’s hijra community of transgender, transvestite and eunuchs as citizens of Pakistan and directed the government’s Social Welfare Department to register them for better integration into society. The word hijra is a blanket Urdu term that includes transvestites, transgendered people and eunuchs.

Full report at ucanews.com