Karachi - When Bindiya Rana, a transgender candidate in Pakistan’s elections, went door to door in the Karachi slum she hopes to represent, few people seemed to care which gender she identifies with. They were more interested in what she was going to do to combat the street crime and electricity outages in their neighbourhood if elected.
For the first time in Pakistan’s history, transgender people are running as candidates. The development marks a sign of progress for transgender people in this conservative country, where they have long been met with abuse.
Transgender refers to people who present themselves to the world in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth. In Pakistan, that usually means people born as men who now dress like women and wear make-up. They identify as a “third gender” rather than as male or female, but usually ask to be referred to by the feminine pronoun since there is no third-gender pronoun.
Rana has always been active in her community, and works at an organisation that helps promote the rights of transgender people as well as street children and other social issues.
But after a Supreme Court ruling in 2011 allowed the transgender community to get national identity cards recognising them as a separate identity – neither male nor female – and allowing them to vote, she decided to run for office as well.
She’s vying for a provincial assembly seat in the May 11 national elections.
“People ask if we will win or lose in the elections. But I won when my nomination papers were submitted,” she said.
The Supreme Court’s decision didn’t explicitly say that transgender people could run for office, but by getting the identity cards and the right to vote, the road was opened for them. Before the court’s decision, transgender people could get identity cards only if they identified themselves as men.
Almas Boby, president of the Pakistan Shemale Foundation, which advocates for members of the transgender community, said she knows of at least five transgender candidates taking part in the elections. Two, including Rana, are running in the city of Karachi, and one each from the cities of Jehlum, Gujrat, and Sargodha.
“The Supreme Court of Pakistan gave us our rights. Now transgender people are also contesting elections, and our thousands of people will vote for them,” Boby said.
Male and female roles are clearly defined in Pakistan, and transgender people often face harassment and abuse – even from their own families. Some are pushed out of the home when they are young and end up prostituting themselves to earn a living.
One role where they are tolerated is as dancers at weddings and other celebrations at which men and women are strictly segregated. In between the dancing and showers of rupee notes, they must fend off groping from drunken guests.
They can also be seen begging for money in the streets, wearing female dress and make-up. Many earn money by blessing newborn babies, which reflects a widespread belief in Pakistan that God answers the prayers of someone born underprivileged.
Rana herself faced harassment from her own family, when she started to realise at the age of 12 that she was different to the other kids around her. When she was 14, she ran away from home and found work dancing at weddings and celebrations.
Running for office – and the possibility of actually serving in office – was a way of highlighting the role of transgender people in Pakistan, said many of the candidates.
“If I win, I will also become a strong voice for transgender people, who are often victimised and humiliated,” said Lubna Lal, who is running for a Punjab provincial assembly seat in the city of Jehlum, about 100km from Islamabad.
“I am not worried about defeat. I am contesting the elections to prove that now we also have equal rights,” she said.
But in many ways, the issues that the transgender candidates are most concerned with are no different from those of the average voter. Most say they want to cut unemployment, address the country’s widespread poverty and electricity blackouts and loosen the grip of Pakistan’s ruling parties on the political process.
“For me it is a jihad to contest elections, and God willing, I will win as I don’t have huge funds. All I have is the love of the people,” said another candidate, Resham. Like some transgender people in Pakistan, Resham only uses one name. She is running for a national assembly seat from the city of Gujrat.
Resham also said voters in her area encouraged her to contest the elections after becoming fed up with all the political parties.
That’s a common complaint in Pakistan where many voters rail at the corruption that they feel permeates the political system.
Most of the candidates have few financial resources and are relying on door-to-door campaigning and word of mouth to drum up votes. None is running with a political party, said Boby.
“Our campaign will be different. We will not be holding big rallies. We will go to homes to get votes, and you will see we will get a lot of votes,” she said.
Boby said she was not worried about the security of the transgender candidates, and none has reported any harassment on the campaign trail.
In the slum where Rana knocked on nearly 50 houses in her door-to-door to campaign, there was little animosity from residents.
No doors were slammed, and people greeted her with smiles. Rana has lived in this neighbourhood for the past 20 years, and many see in her someone who is downtrodden and poor just like them.
“Bindiya must contest. It is everybody’s right. And we believe that being poor like us, she may understand issues better,” said Hameeda Bibi, a resident. – Sapa-AP