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Over the last decade or so, rights of the third sex, the transgenders, has been advocated on every single platform. Their humble nature, simplicity, want of being accepted and the will to be a part of society has paved way for their entrance in the main domain of the country.
Everyday, transgender rights are talked about, and every day, there are animals that try and undo their human nature by tormenting, assaulting, sexually abusing and even murdering these creations of God Almighty. However, things, in a circle, however, look better for the transgenders of Pakistan.
News has broken about our progressive country opening its first ever transgender school, and it is something to be extremely proud of. Coming Sunday, the country will inaugurate its first ever vocational training school for the trans society in Lahore. The school is called ‘The Gender Guardian’, which will offer transgender students 12 years of excellent education, starting from their primary to matriculation, and then further onto their college.
The Exploring Future Foundation and Arif Shahzad found the school. While speaking to a prominent newspaper of Pakistan, Shahzad said that there will be 15 faculty members serving in the school and 3 of them are transgenders.
This will not be the only branch of the transgender school, but two more branches will soon be opening in Karachi and Islamabad. The only question that rises here is whether the academic would be free for transgenders or not. If not, how much will the school be charging them? Keeping in mind that most transgenders are given away to the khwajasira community at birth.
Already, within a couple of days, 40 students from Lahore have registered themselves for the school. Not only will the Gender Guardian school offer educational facilities, but vocational training such as graphic designing, computer and cell-phone repairing, hair-styling, fashion designing and even courses of beauticians.
The Gender Guardian school wants to be a one stop shop for the transgenders, where they can come and learn different arts of life, so that nobody can say that the khwajasiras ‘only know how to dance and sing’ – to become strong members of the society, they need to learn the tricks that men and women know, through which they earn their livelihoods, competing against each other.
For decades, Pakistan’s transgender community has been oppressed and tortured, but times are now changing. Even generally and generically, the acceptance towards transgenders by both men and women in the country has increased, which is always a good sign!
