The stigma attached with the third gender, or khawaja siras as they are known in Pakistan, is so prevalent that it has stifled their chances of social mobility and has reduced them to mere sex slaves or beggars. All segments of society look down upon them and treat them in the worst possible way, trying to reconstruct their identities and make them conform to what a man or woman is expected to be like in accordance with the true ideals of the society. The existence of the third gender is vehemently denied and those claiming to be so, experience a process of socioeconomic exclusion and are neglected by their peers and abandoned by the society. All their cries for help go unheeded and so an entire community of people is denied basic human rights.

To understand this community better, I conducted a series of interviews with these people and surveyed their lifestyles. During this process I discovered that these are people just like any of us and not the abominations society makes them out to be. Their personalities and faith was extremely inspiring and beautiful to witness.

Saima Butt is a transgender person and ambassador for the rights of the people of her community. She says:

“I do this because I see my people getting trampled upon and being denied their basic rights. I see that they need someone to stand up for them and stand against the discrimination they go through on a daily basis. I try to help them in any way I can, whether it is to give them emotional support or to help them find proper medical care and housing”.

She adds:

“I try to make sure that nobody intimidates these people or looks down upon them. In the end they are human beings and we are human beings and so there is no real difference and nobody is above each other”.

I marvel at Saima’s wisdom and wish to help her people in any way possible and yet I am glad that after decade of oppression resistance to injustice still exists.

Saima continues:

“We have some talents and we want to work yet we do not get the opportunity to cultivate our talents and work respectfully. We want to get good education, but in schools we find no acceptance. Even when somebody offers to teach us, we cannot study because we have no families to provide for us. And if we want to keep shelters over our heads and food in our stomachs, we have no other option”.

Thinking on this later, I accept the bitter truth of Saima’s words with a sinking heart. We force these people to beg, dance and sing if they want to fulfill their basic needs and then we ourselves ridicule them for doing so and judge them for this.

Saima adds:

“I thank God for all his blessings and love Him dearly. I recite Surah Fatiha everyday because I want to please God. I want to recite more but I cannot read the Quran. I know that in God’s eyes we all are equal and He made us the way we are and that He will always be there for us”.

As I hear this, one conviction grows strong in my mind. I now firmly believe that it is about time that we learn to treat all God’s creation with equality and work to give the khawaja siras a better future; a future in which their only way of earning is not comodifying their body and resorting to begging; a future where they can find jobs adapted to their skill set; a future in which they can live in society comfortably with their hearts at peace and not being the targets of bullies at every corner.