Myths About Transgenders We Need To Get Rid Of

Pakistan’s transgender community is one of the most oppressed and discriminated ones in society.

This discrimination begins from their families who banish them from their homes for being different and not fitting into the gender norms defined by societies. These homeless and banished individuals are then taken into the shelter by the Guru-Chela system that exists in the transgender community. Under this system, the transgender lot referred to as “Hijras” answer to a head figure called a Guru and work as beggars, sex workers, and wedding dancers to earn money. The Guru earns a set percentage of that earning as a commission in return for providing them with accommodation and association to their community.

Despite the widespread information about the lives of the transgenders in Pakistan, there are several myths as well.

Not every trans person has the same experiences. Here are some of the common misconceptions related to the trans community in Pakistan:

1. Not all are banished from their homes

There is a common misconception that all trans people are banished from their homes or parents willingly give up their child to the trans community. This is not true in all cases. Some of the trans people live with their parents and their families support them with whatever gender they choose. Some of them willingly leave their houses and settle with the trans community because of the incessant pressure by their parents to choose their birth gender and conform to gender roles. Their parents are forcing them to live on the set patterns of the society but when they are unable to comprehend with that, they left their homes and join the trans community. According to trans activists, it is very rare that parents willingly give up their child after finding out they are trans.

2. Not all are uneducated

Like any other child, trans children also go to school and get an education. Despite the fact that trans people face extreme bullying during their course of education, they continue their studies because of the constant support they have from their homes. There are also trans people who do not have the facilities to go to school like the rest of us. When trans people have opportunities, they get an education.

3. Not all are singers, dancers, and prostitutes

There is a common misconception that trans people only choose limited professions like dancing, singing, and prostitution. However, there are trans people who sustain their livelihood through other professions like teaching, working in media or any other profession like the rest of us. The fact is that our society provides a small number of opportunities for trans people to move beyond the cliched sources of income. In the guru-chela system, they are involved in singing, dancing and sex work. Some of them are there because of their own choice and some of them are forced to do that because of a lack of opportunities.

3. Not all are needy or beggars

When we see a trans person, most of the time we automatically assume that they are needy or beggars. This automatic assumption stems from the emotion of sympathy we have in our minds. We develop this emotion in our minds because we feel bad for them out of the sheer lack of understanding for their lives and who they are as people. Instead of sympathy, they need understanding which would solve most of their problems.

4. Transgender is not a third gender

Most transgender people explicitly identify as male or female. They aren’t part of a third gender — they are, by all intents and purposes, men and women. There is a condition called gender non-conformity, the people who have this condition are the people that don’t express their gender in a way society expects them to. They don’t readily exhibit traits that can easily identify them as men or women. Genderqueer, also known as non-binary, is a category of gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine‍. They are called as the third gender but trans people who identify their identity as male or female are not described as the third gender.

5. Transgenders don’t need a separate school

In April 2018, there was a first transgender school opened in Lahore. According to a trans activist, it does not work because of a lack of students, teachers, and facilities. According to transgenders, a separate school for transgender children, segregation of educational facilities would further cement the divide that existed between trans people and the society. Apart from stripping transgender children of normal school experience, separate schools would make them feel like they really do not belong in the normal society and would cause adjustment problems when, as grown-ups, they would ultimately have to find their space in the world. Even if separate school systems were built, the general discrimination in our society related to transgenders would result in the form of compromised quality of education and inequality of resources.

Pakistani society holds several misconceptions about the transgenders. These misconceptions accumulate to create transphobia.

Transphobia is the fear, hatred, disbelief, or mistrust of people who are transgender, thought to be transgender, or whose gender expression doesn’t conform to traditional gender roles. This transphobia prevents members of the society, especially the youth to approach the transgender community and to normalize their interactions with them. This ends up creating a large gap between the society and the transgender community that becomes increasingly harder to bridge. With time, the gap becomes a cause for the stigmatization of transgenders as outcasts who cannot fit within the wider fabric of society. Hence, the marginalization of this oppressed community forces them to work and live in the shadows of society.

The solution to breaking these patterns of discrimination and oppression starts with acceptance and change on an individual, attitudinal level.

Recently there is a shift in perspective when trans activists stand up for the rights of transgender and the government passed the transgender act. The trans activists are trying to sensitize the masses slowly so the people know about the rights of trans people.

There are some small steps in attitudinal changes that collect to form collective social thinking.

Do not call your friend a “khusra” as an insult, and refuse to believe in the stereotypes that sexualize trans-people. Educate yourselves about the realities and struggles of the transgender community; it is not a biological curse they carry, it is a conscious assumption of their identities that they are suffering the consequences for. Know that gender is not binary. The integration of the transgender community is not easy and it is surely not a quick process, but the change begins at home and the change begins with you.

cover image via medium.com