Pakistan’s government issued on Wednesday its first passport with a transgender category to transgender activist Farzana Jan.
Jan’s passport indicated an X under the gender category to symbolize a third classification.
The introduction of the X classification is an important milestone for the conservative South Asian country where homosexuality is a crime.
This recognition by the Pakistani government is a significant step in the transgender community’s fight against discrimination, the transgender activist said in a phone interview.
“Men and women both have been given their identity, but we were deprived of this right. We are happy there is a growing realization that we should be given our identity,” Jan said as quoted by Gulf News. “The main challenge for us is to change society’s behaviour. We have largely been confined to the four walls of our houses because we are harassed, terrorised and ridiculed by the people.”
In the recent years, the country’s Supreme Court has declared the right for transgender people to inherit property and assets, the right to vote, and be counted in the country’s national census as a separate category.
Photo Credit: propakistani.pk
