In a packed academic setting at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a critical conversation unfolded on the global state of transgender rights, the rise of anti-gender politics, and Pakistan’s evolving legal landscape.
The event, titled “Trans Rights Under Fire: Pakistan and the Global Anti-Gender Movement,” brought together Sherkan Sultan, Director Programmes at Transgender Rights Consultants Pakistan (TGPK) and Master’s candidate at LSE, and Nayyab Ali, Executive Director of TGPK and Global Human Rights Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School.
The conversation was organised by Sherkan Sultan as part of TGPK’s commitment to strengthening global academic solidarity and situating Pakistan’s experience within broader international debates on gender, law, and democracy. By hosting the dialogue at one of the world’s leading academic institutions, Sherkan ensured that Pakistan’s realities were not spoken about from afar, but articulated directly by those shaping change on the ground.
From the outset, the discussion moved beyond policy headlines and into lived history. Nayyab Ali spoke about her childhood in a conservative household, the violence she endured, and being forced out of her home as a young teenager. Survival meant dancing for income, facing public humiliation, and navigating constant threats. She spoke of surviving an acid attack and carrying trauma within her own family.
“Activism was not activism at first,” she told the audience. “It was self-defense. Then it became community defense.”
The dialogue traced the deep historical roots of gender diversity in South Asia. Nayyab reminded the audience that khwaja sira identities are indigenous to the region, long embedded in pre-colonial courts and public life. Colonial governance, particularly the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, reframed hijra communities as criminal, embedding moral panic into law.
The colonial logic, the speakers argued, did not disappear with independence. It was reproduced within post-colonial state structures, shaping how bodies were regulated long before they were protected.
The conversation then moved to modern turning points. The 2016 killing of trans activist Alisha in Peshawar, after doctors debated whether to place her in a male or female hospital ward, triggered the first coordinated nationwide protests by Pakistan’s transgender community. That mobilisation contributed to the passage of the 2018 Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, which introduced self-perceived gender identity into Pakistan’s legal framework and extended protections in employment, education, and healthcare. For a brief period, Pakistan’s legal recognition of gender identity placed it ahead of several Western democracies. Yet the progress was followed by backlash.
Sherkan and Nayyab analysed how anti-gender rhetoric circulating in the United States and parts of Europe began appearing in Pakistan almost verbatim. Arguments rooted in foreign culture wars were translated into parliamentary discourse. “Hate has become globalised,” Nayyab observed, describing how backlash now travels across borders faster than solidarity.
When the 2018 Act faced review before the Federal Shariat Court, parts of it were declared inconsistent with Islamic law. The legal uncertainty that followed created profound risks, including barriers to renewing identity documents. However, through strategic legal appeals and procedural navigation, the law has remained operational.
Throughout the discussion, Sherkan drew connections between political theory and lived resistance, framing trans rights not as an isolated identity issue but as a test case for democratic resilience. If rights for one minority can be rolled back quietly, he suggested, the precedent extends far beyond a single community.
The conversation also highlighted TGPK’s institutional work within Pakistan. From contributing to legal reform to engaging with police academies and state institutions, TGPK has sought to transform governance structures rather than remain confined to reactive protest. The establishment of inclusive complaint mechanisms and engagement with public institutions reflects a strategic approach: reform from within, while holding the state accountable.
The event at LSE demonstrated how Pakistan’s struggle resonates globally. It positioned trans rights within broader conversations on decoloniality, memory politics, and the transnational nature of political backlash.
For TGPK, this dialogue represents more than a speaking engagement. It reflects an intentional strategy of aligning grassroots realities with global academic platforms, ensuring that policy debates about Pakistan include voices directly engaged in reform. By bridging Islamabad and London, community networks and research institutions, TGPK continues to expand spaces of intellectual and political solidarity.
TGPK extends sincere gratitude to Sherkan Malik for organising this important conversation at LSE and for advancing the organisation’s commitment to academic engagement and global alliance-building. His leadership underscores the importance of creating platforms where lived experience, scholarship, and policy converge.
As debates around gender intensify worldwide, conversations like this remind us that while backlash may be transnational, so too is resistance. And when voices from Pakistan echo in the halls of institutions like LSE, they carry with them histories of survival, legal innovation, and the determination not to be erased.
