Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan American novelist, and the goodwill ambassador for UNHCR recently posted a picture of his daughter on Instagram writing that finally his daughter has come out as transgender and that he could not feel prouder than he is today. He went on to right that he was very proud and the witness of the obstacles, emotionally, physically, economically, and socially his daughter has faced during the last year of transition.
After seeing this post and reading the article one thing that immediately clicked was the matter of acceptance. We as viewers and as humans living in this world are aware of the problems and hurdles faced by the transgender community not only in Pakistan but around the globe. We know for a fact the problems this community faces are beyond explanation, but we all are unaware of the basic issue which causes this problem.
Every person while he or she is growing up looks up to their parents for advice, security, and love. They need their parents to cry and share their success. Especially in a country like Pakistan where kids are so pampered and dependent on their parents until they are grown and start earning sufficient. The liability and responsibility lie with their parents till this point of success. So, the love, affiliation, and comfort from the parents are something that is most important for a child while he grows up and moves forward. It helps him or her build confidence and stand tall in society.
This love, affiliation, and sympathy from the parents are because they love their child, and they accept him or her as a part of their bodies and life. Acceptance is the foremost and the most important part that makes you feel that something belongs to you and that you belong to someone. Acceptance means that you accept someone with their good and bad.
The biggest issue and the cause of the problems faced by transgenders is acceptance. Acceptance from the family, society, community, etc. For quite a long time the word transgender which is ‘’Khusraa’’ in normal language has been used as an abuse by the community, especially for the male members of the community. This is one end, while on the side most people thought of transgenders as a curse that would affect their families also if they interacted with them. This community was looked down on by the family, cursed, abused, laughed at, humiliated, forced to beg and dance, raped, sexually harassed, killed and God knows what more, only because they were born as transgenders. Numerous articles are available that show these brutal actions against this community, but no one speaks about the reason and causes of these issues. No one believes in educating the nation about the fact that they are hurting and cursing something that is by Allah almighty and not because the person is cursed. Especially since we are living in a country that is an Islamic republic with an Islamic community and laws we need to understand this the most but unfortunately, we do not.
Just believe a country where there was a window was acceptance for everyone in the family and society, we would have one very big but one less problem to deal with. the biggest issue for this society is acceptance, they are thrown away by their parents, they are accused and cursed by the society and then we sit down to talk about the promotion of human rights when the basics of human rights are not completely understood by the society. Transgenders are humans, but we deny treating them like one, they want to study but there are no educational institutions, they want to move with us and be by our side but they are harassed, cursed, abused, and neglected by the society, last but not the least some of them end up begging and the rest who dance are blamed to be spreading vulgarity under the banner of religion.
It is very important to consider that these people are humans, and they have a heart like us. Instead of mocking them should accept them as one of us. Acceptance has the power of free will and confidence. Acceptance gives you the strength to stand up for yourself. Acceptance rises inside you the feeling of being loved, cared and foremost being the person who is not alone and there is someone he or she has at his or her back. Acceptance gives you the strength to cross all the hurdles. These are not just words but a reality. We have heard thousands of times children praising their parents, families, friends, and society for their success.
Live to Love 