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Transgender people in Pakistan, who call themselves ‘khawaja siras’, have always had a special status: Pakistan had one of the most progressive laws in the world recognizing the existence of a third gender, but it was recently changed. This year, the shortlist for the Oscars of the Pakistani film ‘Joyland’, the story of romance between a married man and a trans erotic theater dancer, the transgender issue once again occupied the headlines.
The transgender community in Pakistan has suffered a severe setback after the 2018 law that recognized the third gender was amended on May 19.
This norm allowed trans people to be on a legislative equal footing with their fellow citizens and prohibited any form of discrimination against the ‘khawaja siras’.
At the end of last year the controversy broke out with the film ‘Joyland’, the first Pakistani film shortlisted for the Oscars, which was also screened at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. The feature film tells the story of a married man who falls in love with a transsexual erotic theater dancer.
The ‘Joyland’ controversy has put the issue of transgender people in the spotlight in the “country of purity” and the ‘Khawaja Siras’ have continued to suffer discrimination and social ostracism.
‘Joyland’ was censored by the government, but it was finally released from November 16, and very few cinemas have chosen to show it.
Reporting is by Shahzaib Wahlah and Sonia Ghezali.
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