In the morning, Nagini puts on her blue and green school uniform, covers her hair with a loose white cloth, and packs her school things. When she laughs, she holds her headscarf over her mouth. A student like many others in Pakistan, one might think, but Nagini’s school in Lahore is a special one. She is part of a new project that offers education especially for trans people, who are often rejected here – in conservative Muslim Pakistan. Trans people are people who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.
The so-called trans people and the transgender community in Pakistan also include those people who were born with a body that is not clearly male or female. The law in Pakistan actually prohibits their discrimination. Since 2018, trans people have been able to decide for themselves whether they want to be officially registered as male, female or as a so-called third gender.
Rejected from the family
Nagini was rejected by her family as a child. She has been begging on the streets of Lahore since she was five years old. Today, at the age of 25, she is catching up on the education she was previously denied. “You are welcome. You are valued,” it says on the classroom door. Words that are not self-evident for Nagini and her classmates. There is a second school specifically for trans people in Pakistan in the city of Multan.
Many women and men with trans identity have experienced exclusion since childhood. The khwaja siras, as trans people are also called in Pakistan, often have to make ends meet by begging or prostitution. They join together in communities guided by some kind of guru. They often take on new names there. Nagini also had a different name once.
“The goal is for trans people to learn something they can use to earn a living,” says project manager Bilquis Rehana Saroya about the school. There is no age limit here. In the colorfully decorated classroom, the students not only learn English, mathematics and sewing. But above all, that they are allowed to have dreams. “Before, nobody ever encouraged me to take my life into my own hands,” says Nagini.
Transgender people are often pushed into sex work
She feels safe at school, but outside the school walls there is still a long way to go before she is accepted. Precisely because transgender people are often pushed into sex work, they are socially ostracized. Also, khwaja siras are often booked to perform dances at weddings. However, this does not increase your reputation.
According to official figures, there have been 150 homicides against trans people in the past eight years alone, plus thousands of cases of violence and harassment. Activist Namkeen Peshawari complains that the police never investigate many cases, which further fuels violence.
A look into the past shows that the khwaja siras were once held in high esteem in the region. Among the Mogul Muslims who ruled the Indian subcontinent hundreds of years ago, they were among the few who had access to the harems at the royal court, says historian Mubarak Ali. They then lost their high position under the British colonial rulers, explains Ali.
“My future should not be begging”
Today, trans people are again pushing for more participation in Pakistan. In the capital, Islamabad, there has been a Koran school for them since 2021. The goal is to create a place where transgender people can study the Koran in peace or just get together, says founder and activist Nayab Ali. If necessary, the Koran school also offers shelter. It is financed by donations.
There should also be more schools like the one in Lahore in the future. However, a number of challenges await project manager Saroya. Since trans people often live in poor conditions, uniforms and transport to school, for example, must be free. In addition, it is important to convince many khwaja siras to go to school. But Nagini definitely wants to finish school. She says: “My future should not be begging.”
