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Fact-check: Social media posts, politicians share incorrect claims about Pakistan’s transgender law

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A law that ensures fundamental rights for Pakistan’s transgender citizens has stirred up controversy, as religious groups argue that it legalises same-sex marriages and homosexuality in the country.

The claim is false.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act was passed by Pakistan’s parliament in 2018. The law prohibits discrimination against transgender people in schools, workplaces and public spaces, as well as ensures their right to vote, inherit property and run for public office.

Claim

This year, politicians from religious political parties, the Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (Fazl) kicked up a row, insisting that the law is against Islamic tenets and should be immediately amended.


A law that ensures fundamental rights for Pakistan’s transgender citizens has stirred up controversy, as religious groups argue that it legalises same-sex marriages and homosexuality in the country.

The claim is false.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act was passed by Pakistan’s parliament in 2018. The law prohibits discrimination against transgender people in schools, workplaces and public spaces, as well as ensures their right to vote, inherit property and run for public office.

Claim

This year, politicians from religious political parties, the Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (Fazl) kicked up a row, insisting that the law is against Islamic tenets and should be immediately amended.

Posted on the official Facebook page of Jamaat-e-Islami on September 22.
Posted on the official Facebook page of Jamaat-e-Islami on September 22.

Separately, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has submitted a resolution in the Sindh Assembly against the implementation of the law. While the Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing has held several study circles in colleges against the law, calling it a “dagger in the Islamic republic.”

On September 16, two hashtags also began trending on social media #Ammendtransgenderact and #Amendtransgenderact. Both hashtags have to date accumulated over 5,000 tweets and videos with several thousand views.

Social media users and conservative politicians accuse the law of permitting gender-reassignment surgeries, same-sex marriages and cross-dressing. They also claim that since 2018, when the law was passed, over 23,000 people changed their genders.

Posted on the official Facebook page of Jamaat-e-Islami on September 22.
Posted on the official Facebook page of Jamaat-e-Islami on September 22.

Fact

The claim that the law will allow men to change their gender to female and women to male on official documents is incorrect.

The law clearly defines a “transgender person” as one who is “intersex” with a mixture of male and female genital features or a eunuch assigned the male gender at birth but undergoes castration or a trans person whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth.

The Rules to the Act further clarify that a transgender person will have to approach the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) for a change of name or gender on identity documents, as per their self-perceived identity. And NADRA will only alter their gender from Female to the category “X” or Male to the category “X”.

“X” symbolises the third sex in Pakistan, a classification specially created for the trans community on the orders of the Supreme Court in 2009.

The law or the Rules do not allow men to change their gender to female or vice versa on their CNICs, passports or other travel documents.

Video posted against the Transgender Act on Twitter on September 21.
Video posted against the Transgender Act on Twitter on September 21.

The claim that the law permits same-sex marriages and gender-change surgeries is false.

There is no mention in the Act or the Rules of marriage or gender-affirming surgeries.

Several social media users further argue that since 2018, 23,000 people have changed their genders, as per their wishes. Geo Fact Check could find no data or evidence to support this claim.

Video posted against the Transgender Act on Twitter on September 21.
Video posted against the Transgender Act on Twitter on September 21.

In fact, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Senator Mushtaq Ahmed, who has been vocally opposing the law and insisting that it be amended, had asked the interior ministry in November 2021 for the total number of applications received by NADRA, for the issuance of gender-change certificates between July 2018 and June 2021.

To which, then interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed clarified that NADRA does not issue gender change certificates. “However, gender is modified [on official documents] due to medical reasons or on request of Transgender persons,” he added, as per documents seen by Geo Fact Check.

He further provided a breakdown of 28, 723 trans people whose gender had been changed by NADRA in the dates specified above. 

Response by the Interior Ministry to Senator Mushtaq Ahmed’s query.

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Ahsan says all available resources should be used to eradicate smog at the air pollution meeting.

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According to Ahsan Iqbal, the country’s minister of planning and development, a non-traditional approach is required to address the pollution problem, and every available resource would be used to eradicate this grave issue.

Children are disproportionately affected by pollution, the Planning Minister stated during a special meeting on smog and air pollution in Islamabad.

He claimed that cooperation between the federal government and the provinces is urgently needed to address the various problems that climate change has caused in Pakistan.

Smog is interfering with everyday activities, the Minister added, and it has grown to be a serious threat to our future.

Burning crop residue is the cause of smog, he claimed.

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Deputy Prime Minister Speaks at COP-29 Summit: Pakistan Needs $348 Billion to Become Climate Resilient by 2030

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According to Muhammad Ishaq Dar, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister, the current international finance system is biased against climate-responsive investment in developing nations.

Pakistan, according to Dar, continues to rank in the top ten nations most affected by climate change. The catastrophic floods of 2022 caused losses and damages of more over USD 30 billion, and they reduced Pakistan’s GDP by 4%. It took USD 348 billion for Pakistan to become climate resilient by 2030.

Dar stated Pakistan’s continued commitment to working with the international community to address climate change.

“We allocate 20% of our annual public sector program to climate-responsive public investments, which include climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy, and integrated flood response,” he added. The goal of Pakistan’s national climate finance plan is to use climate finance to meet our demands for adaptation as well as mitigation,” he added.

Dar praised the forum’s dedication to establishing innovative climate finance tools that will unlock accessible, affordable, and available climate funding for developing nations.

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KP Police Apprehend Key Terrorist: Primary Perpetrator of 2023 Policelines Explosion Detained: IG KP

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Inspector General of Police Khayber Pakhtunkhwa, Akhtar Hayat Khan, announces the apprehension of the primary perpetrator of the 2023 police line explosion, along with the arrest of the facilitator of the police line suicide assault in Peshawar.

During a news conference, the Inspector General stated that the apprehended individual is a constable of the Peshawar district police and was affiliated with the proscribed organization Jamaat Al-Ahrar, a faction of Fitnah Al-Khawarij.

Personnel from the Counter Terrorism Department apprehended the suspect Muhammad Wali, also known as Umar, near Ring Road, Jameel Chowk, Peshawar following a successful operation.

He stated that Wali confessed to having visited many Jamaat Al-Ahrar bases in Afghanistan as a member of the group, where he received funding and training for terrorist operations in Pakistan.

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