IDAHOTB » Pakistan

Pakistan – IDAHOTB 2018 Country Page

Joel Bedos — Wed, 16 May 2018 15:51:49 +0000

An interactive session, in continuation of the ongoing celebrations of #IDAHOT was organized by Dareecha male health society on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 at Dareecha secretariat. The audience included prominent faces from Transgender community and main stream civil society. Dareecha`s perspective regarding IDAHOT was also regarding the alliances and advocacy among Civil Society, Community & non community organizations, Dareecha and the community members.
Event’s FB page

Message from the organisers:

“Sub Rang & Humraz joined Youth,Trans, Young GSMs, and Civil society around the city to commemorate IDAHOT. The annual IDAHOT commemoration is an important reminder – to all of us – that the issue of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) matters deeply for sustainable development. It matters because it is about fighting discrimination and promoting social inclusion. Our proposed agenda to showing Documentaries, playing Trans animated Video, Story telling, Open mic and Q/A session worked had been concluded that We never have only one characteristic by which we self-identify, or by which others identify us. We have multiple identities by which society recognizes us, as well as how we identify ourselves – be it real or perceived – our race, our gender, our ethnicity, our “SOGI”, and many more. This is where the theme of IDAHOT 2018 comes in: The shared exclusion helps us understand that we need to have one another’s back – through creating powerful alliances.”

From the organisers

“IDAHOTB 2018 !
This Year theme is “Alliances for Solidarity” as 2018 global theme. Every year the global community of sexual and gender minorities identifies one specific focus issue for the celebrations around May 17th.There should be no hate against any gender.
I did not have budget but i had passion and good hopes to celebrate this important day with the theme so i invited some community members to made some art work with message and visiting our trans community to show solidarity with them, We visited traffic signals where they were begging and visited derahs to show solidarity regardless of any age , class or religion .Community members appreciated and showed solidarity to have alliance with community to end trans phobia not only in Pakistan but also in the world.
#IDAHOT2018 #AlliancesforSolidarity #EndTransphobia #RespectallGendersAndSexuality #TransRights”

IDAHOT Report 2016: Pakistan

IDAHO — Thu, 26 May 2016 19:30:10 +0000

Despite the threat of violence present in Pakistan’s current climate, national campaigners from Naz Pakistan bravely held an event to mark IDAHOT 2016. On May 15 the group hosted a drag show and panel discussion on trans and LGB discrimination in the country, specifically focusing on the psychological impact of homophobia, transphobia and biphobia. The event featured performances from members of the local LGBT community and also saw the crowning of ‘Miss Naz Pakistan 2016’.

Due to ongoing safety concerns further details of events in Pakistan are not currently available.

IDAHOT Events 2016: Pakistan

IDAHO — Thu, 12 May 2016 12:40:17 +0000

In Lahore, national LGBT group Naz Pakistan will host a drag show and panel discussion to mark IDAHOT 2016 on May 15th. The event will feature a public discussion on the psychological impact of homophobia, transphobia and biphobia and will be followed by a drag show and refreshments. The winner of the show will be crowned Miss Naz Pakistan 2016.

For further updates and more news please follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

IDAHOT Events 2015: Pakistan

IDAHO — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 08:23:56 +0000

In Pakistan, Naz Male Health Alliance (NMHA) has planned IDAHOT events in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Hyderabad and Larkana this year.

We are still busy collecting information on this year’s IDAHOT activities and are waiting to hear back from activists and event organisers. If you have information to share with us, please write us at contact@dayagainsthomophobia.org

NMHA and their affiliates have once again put together various events to celebrate IDAHOT under the title TURNING THE TIDE: PAKISTAN CELEBRATES IDAHOT 2015. The programme touched a broad range of issues and marked IDAHOT in Pakistan as an important day to be commemorated. Read the organisers’ report:

Individuals with non-heteronormative behaviors come together for a day and celebrate what they have been vilified, bullied and abused for globally: being different. Homophobia has been explained as many things: fear of “the gays”, a penalty for digressing from traditional masculinities, or simply a hatred of a sexuality not well understood. Transphobia, similarly, has been identified on a spectrum ranging from plain hatred to public murders and mob lynching of individuals who identify with a gender not prescribed to them at birth. At one end, these issues are termed insignificant and unimportant to be addressed by many governments; while contrastingly societies put extra measures, often verging on open violence, on controlling these “queer” people and their “queerness”. IDAHOT, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, stands in the face of all these brutal societies and calls upon the fabulous, the colorful, and the very queer LGBTQI communities to come forth and celebrate what they have been denigrated for. We meet to turn the tides on the ocean of hatred against us, and in doing so forge an everlasting bond. A bond of resilience. A bond of friendship. A bond of commitment. And above all, a bond for unwavering, unfaltering bravery.

Muslim, gay and proud

Dostana Male Health Society, at Lahore, addressed the very Muslim, gay and proud important issue of self-stigma among gay youth. Pakistani has a religious society, and often young gay people feel guilty because of the negative treatment of homosexuality in the society, resulting in immense self-stigma for many of them. Dostana called upon LGBTQ activists and religious leaders to address the issue during IDAHOT 2015; and the results were phenomenal.

“I’ve always been told that I’ll rot in hell and that people like myself were pelted with rocks from the sky in the past as a punishment from God. That’s not true, and I am not one of those gang rapists God punished. And if one can’t love God’s creation, how can he claim to love God? I am who I am and anyone who thinks otherwise better educate himself” said Aryan, a 17 years old friend of Dostana, happily after the event.

Social Media for Social Justice

Karachi is the metropolitan hub of Pakistan; urban, raw, sprawling, with a very vibrant gay scene. Parwaz Male Health Society in Karachi has its fingers on the pulse of the city. They chose to use social media to spread awareness about homophobia, transphobia and how to fight it. Using the hashtags #beyourself #bebetter they uploaded content on social media, generating waves in the city. Along with the social media visibility, t-shirts with inspirational messages were worn by the attendees to raise visibility of the cause.

“I just want to appropriately highlight the issue. A sensitized society is like fertile soil, with many opportunities and lots of color once the flowers blossom” said Usama Bin Ather, the Programme Director at Parwaz.

Silent no more

Khawaja Sira Society at Lahore is unique for many reasons, For starters it is the only community based organization providing comprehensive HIV and STI services to transwomen, which is entirely run by transwomen! In Pakistan, where transphobic bullying at schools and violence on the streets forces many transwomen to flee education, running KSS successfully has been an achievement of immense scale. This IDAHOT, KSS stood firm in the face of transphobia and sang and danced to popular tunes. The transwomen shared their stories and pledged their support to the cause of trans-equality.

Taking action

Dareecha Male Health Society at Rawalpindi is mainly youth-led, and as a result is very proactive. Their IDAHOT event was no different. The attendees discussed why taking action was so necessary, and why speaking up and standing firm will eventually pave the way. The event rekindled the spirit of Stonewall Inn.

Defying Patriarchy

Pireh Male Health Society operates in Larkana, a small city in the Sindh province with a very feudal and patriarchal culture, which provides ample room and breathing space for wide scale exploitation, and physical and sexual abuse of transwomen and gay men. Many transwomen in Larkana wear men’s clothes and spend their time on the streets as men, as a way of avoiding any harm. This IDAHOT, however, they defied the patriarchal norms and headed to Pireh in all their diva glory, dressed up and made up like starlets from movie.

Building Alliances

Humraz Male Health Society at Hyderabad emphasized on building alliances this IDAHOT. They invited renowned human rights activists, lawyers and academia from the city to attend the event. They voiced their support for the cause and said that the dream of a just and equal Pakistan can never be complete without realizing LGBT rights are human rights.

“We want inclusive rights; where our rights are protected along with every other marginalized group. We don’t want to be marginalized groups. That’s not the vision I have for the LGBTI in Pakistan. Together we can achieve the dream.” said Kashif Arain, the Drop-In Center Coordinator for Humraz.

You can find more information about the NMHA here.

IDAHOT Report 2014: Pakistan

IDAHO — Fri, 30 May 2014 17:00:59 +0000

Pakistan

For the first time ever, activists in Pakistan came together to publicly commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia this year. Actions around May 17 took place in five cities in the country (Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Larkana and Hyderabad). The recent murder of six gay men in the country served as a harsh backdrop for community mobilisations this year.

Actions were co-ordinated by Naz Male Health Alliance (NMHA), and held at its six local service centres in the five different cities. According to NMHA, over 400 LGBTI people and allies participated in community actions this year across the country. The events offered an opportunity to discuss the human rights situation for LGBTI people in Pakistan and to evaluate the legal challenges they face, in a country where any sexual acts outside of marriage are illegal, and same sex relationships are criminalised.

Participants of IDAHOT event at Rawalpindi

During the events, NMHA facilitated discussions around human rights violations, community empowerment, strengthening inter-community support and the legal challenges faced by LGBTI community in the Islamic Republic. Awareness around different homophobic and transphobic scenarios in Pakistani society was emphasized through reenactments.

Local activists report that in Lahore, one such reenactment about discrimination faced by a trans woman at the hands of her boyfriend was so heart wrenching that most in attendance were moved to tears. In addition to that, community members shared their personal experiences and stories of personal motivation, courage and strength.

Participants of IDAHOT event at Lahore

A small memorial for the six gay murder victims from Lahore was also organized at each location and provided the LGBTI community members an opportunity to mourn the tragic loss of some of their own.

The legal system in Pakistan is a conglomeration of Sharia and colonial laws, entailing not only the outlawing of sexual acts outside of marriage, but considerable stigma and discrimination from society. Local activists report that, for many, invisibility, social isolation, violence, harassment and stigma are daily realities.

Candlelight Vigil in Karachi for the six gay men killed

In Lahore, there was also a trans specific event where community members of the Khawaja Sira (transgender) gathered around a stage performance showing the effects of transphobia on society but also the victories in the struggles for transgender rights. In Pakistan, despite official recognition of people who identify as third gender, the Khawaja Sira community face significant social stigma.

IDAHOT 2014 in Lahore

NMHA’s initiative to observe IDAHOT in Pakistan was widely appreciated by LGBTI community members and hailed as a significant step in the direction of community empowerment and mobilization. The active participation of local communities at all the six NMHA service delivery centers ensured that these events were a remarkable success, and landmark Day for LGBTI community empowerment in the country.

IDAHOT events in Larkana