As the Transgender Persons (Protection Rights) Act, 2018, empowers "trans persons" to get themselves registered with the government as per their "self-perceived" identity, the Punjab Social Protection Authority (PSPA) has decided to introduce amendments to the law so that no one could misuse it for gaining "financial benefits" since there is no provision for biological testing in the law.
"The current definition of the transgender in this act considers anyone whose gender identity or gender expression does not conform to that associated with the sex assigned at the time of their birth. It does not link being transgender to biological characteristics which may have its peculiar implications in our societal context," states a first-ever provincial welfare policy made for the transgender by the PSPA.
According to the Act, "every transgender who has attained the age of 18 years shall have the right to get himself/herself registered according to "self-perceived" gender identity with NADRA on the CNIC, CRC, driving license and passport".
In the context, the policy notes that "anyone" for the purpose of gender identity or expression can exercise this "choice" provided to them by the Act for the matters where some "financial benefits" are involved. "And for marriages, there is a need to introduce some filters for establishing the status of a transgender person," it emphasizes.
While recommending that mingling with females in "female-only environment" (educational institutions, health facilities, public facilities, etc.) should be scrutinized, the PSPA, however, decided that final opinion on this matter will be adopted after initiating a separate legal assessment or seeking advices from concerned stakeholders.
On the other hand, the PSPA has recommended the establishment of a nation-level committee to oversee the enforcement of the rights of "genuine trans people". For that purpose, an implementing agency for law enforcement will also be introduced in the transgender persons (protection of rights) act after the amendments, the PSPA decides.
Similarly, the policy says that the Punjab government will built, in phases, shelter homes in every district in which homeless transgender will be able to live a dignified life. "Low-cost housing units will also be built for them so that they would not have to live in congested and unclean places where they normally have to live," the policy reads, noting that they usually live in dilapidated places.
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