First transgender passport issued in Pakistan
Peshawar: The country has issued its first third-gender passport to a transgender activist, who hailed the move as a step forward for the marginalised community.
Farzana Riaz, a transgender from Peshawar city, said the new passport would help her campaign globally on behalf of her community.
"I have received my passport which mentions my gender as X and not as a male or female," Farzana told AFP on Saturday.
"Earlier I had a passport which had described my gender as a male. But this time I told the authorities that I won´t accept my passport if it does not identify me as a transgender," the 30-year-old co-founder and president of rights organisation TransAction said.
"Now it will be more convenient for me to travel abroad because earlier I faced problems at international airports because of a contradiction in my appearance and *** mention on my passport," she added.
In 2009, Pakistan became one of the first countries in the world to legally recognise a third ***, allowing transgenders to obtain identity cards, while several have also run in elections.
They number at least half a million people in the country, according to several studies.
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