This post is also available in: العربية (Arabic) اردو (Urdu)
For decades, the transgender community of Pakistan has been subject to torture and discrimination in the country. However, with the times changing, the people of the land have finally started to accept the third gender, as they slowly but surely, become prominent among us.
A news story from Pakistan is being lauded globally, because Pakistan has finally introduced its first transgender TV anchor, something that nobody imagined could happen. Meet Marvia Malik, a transgender journalist, who now works as a news anchor for the tv channel Kohenoor.
Marvia Malik, after the first time she went live as a news anchor, was interviewed by media giants BBC. Marvia told the organization that she was an aspiring model and a journalism graduate, who finally found enough courage and strength to work as a broadcaster for Kohenoor.
“The dream that I saw for myself, I was able to climb on the first stair to achieving it,” she said. Furthermore, Marvia also plans on bettering the lives of the transgender community with her position, as she dreams of a Pakistan where the third-gender is openly accepted, not discriminated again.
In Pakistan, transgenders usually, at a very young age, are orphaned and given to other eunuchs, who then groom these little kids into dancing and prostitution. “Our community should be treated equally and there must not be any gender discrimination. We should be given equal rights and be considered ordinary citizens, instead of third-gender,” added Marvia.
“My family knows I have modeled and they know that I work as a newscaster. It’s the age of social media and there’s nothing that my family doesn’t know. But they have still disowned me.”
Marvia, who is now recognized all around the country, has started making fans on social media as well. The courage it takes for an outcast to step into the limelight, doesn’t come easy. Marvia has gone through heaps of criticism and hate, just to be where she is today. The owner of the news channel Kohneoor, told Voice of America, that Marvia had been selected on the basis of merit, not because of her gender.
Similarly, if organizations in the other sectors of the country too opted for merit, there would be more than one transgender making the country proud. Earlier this month, Pakistan’s Senate voted to support a bill protecting the rights of transgender people, and allowing them to determine their own gender identity.
