KP's transgender community has a new voice on YouTube

The transgender community in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wants a voice and what better place to make sure people hear what they have to say than YouTube? KP Transgender Alliance President Farzana announced that the community has launched a YouTube channel by the name of Transe Life, which will telecast live interviews concerning issues of transgender people across the province. According to a report, since 2015, 62 transgender persons have been murdered in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and there have been 1,150 incidents of crime, like torture and gang-rape after kidnapping, reported by members of the community. While there have been leaps and bounds made in their quest for rights – the community has separate gender options for their national identity cards, passports, driving licences and sehat cards and members of the community are able to now obtain training at technical and vocational centres and work in the civil services – there is a long way to go before Pakistan can say it is a safe space for transgender people. The previous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government allocated Rs200 million in its 2016-17 budget for the uplift and empowerment of the transgender and intersex community for the first the time in the province’s history. Transgender rights activist Qamar Naseem was not happy with the policies of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government towards the community. He regretted that the previous government’s Rs200 million earmarked for the transgender community had lapsed due to the menace of red tape and delays. He said that security measures for the community have not been finalised yet and they are still in danger. Transe Life is another initiative by the community to counter the narratives about them in society. Farzana said they have lost many community members in the struggle to end transphobia in the conservative society of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA. “We are committed to breaking the barriers for trans rights in society,” she said. She expressed satisfaction with the administrative and legal steps that highlighted their problems and ensured their recognition.