Meet Marvia Malik, Pakistan's First Trans News Anchor!

As the Trump misadministration and their white fundie allies try to force transpeople back into the closet and strip us of what human rights coverage we've managed to achieve, other countries on this planet are moving forward on trans rights issues and making history.

Pakistan is an Islamic nation in which transpeople have been ostracized, shunned by family members, treated as a joke and at times violently attacked with a frequency only exceeded in Brazil. 

But like here in the States and in other countries, the Pakistani trans community is getting landmark legal wins that are helping to open hearts and minds in the country. 

Our trans cousins in Pakistan are celebrating as one of their own, Marvia Malik, became the first transgender news anchor in their nation.   The 21 year old Malik is no stranger to breaking barriers in her nation.  She recently became the first openly trans model to walk a fashion show runway there.

But her passion is journalism, and the private Kohenoor broadcast network based in Lahore decided to take a chance and hire her.

"I have made history in my country, and I vow to use my profession as anchor to help change the general attitude of our society towards transgender people."

"Our community should be treated equally and there must not be any gender discrimination. We should be given equal rights and be considered ordinary citizens, instead of third-gender," she said in a BBC interview.

She added: "My family knows I have modeled and they know that I work as a newscaster. It's the age of social media and there's nothing that my family doesn't know. But they have still disowned me."

She is grateful for the opportunity, and went through three months of training before she made her first on air broadcast.  Malik has done so well that the station has hired a second trans person as a copywriter   The owner of the station, Junaid Ansari, made it clear that Malik was hired for her journalism talent, not because she was transgender. 

Malik's determination to be a change agent is echoed by Farzana Jan, the head of Pakistan's Trans Action Alliance.   Jan is hopeful that Malik will not only be a positive role model, but be a catalyst for further positive change in Pakistan.

"Thank God, one of us is going on television in a serious job," Jan said. "Previously we've been presented as a joke. I hope and I believe this will help us get our rights, our protection and our respect".

Your trans cousins around the world hope that what you have expressed comes true in Pakistan. 

Congratulation to Marvia, and hope she has a long problem free career as a television anchor.   

Malala's Triumphant Year

One year ago today a gun toting Taliban thug boarded a school bus and shot Malala Yousafzai in the head for daring to speak up and criticize their efforts to turn Pakistan's Swat Valley back to the Middle Ages. 

Girls' education was banned, women were beaten for leaving their homes without a male relative escorting them, and her hometown of Mingora featured floggings and executions in its central square

She was airlifted to Britain as the world prayed for her survival, and spent three months in a Birmingham hospital recovering from her grave injuries.

She not only survived, but the voice the Taliban thought they silenced forever on that October day has grown louder and has an even bigger international platform. 

Yousafzai celebrated her 16th birthday by speaking to a July 12 United Nations youth conference .   In that memorable speech in front of the nearly 1200 participants and assembled dignitaries, she declared  "Let us pick up our books and our pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One teacher, one book, one pen, can change the world."

When Birmingham opened their massive new public librarly last month, she again proclaimed that education is "the only weapon that can defeat terrorism.”

And she says that the West needs to engage the Taliban in peace talks if the social and political conflict in South Asia is ever to be resolved.  "The best way to solve problems and to fight against war is through dialogue," she said.

In the run up to this bittersweet anniversary the wise beyond her years teen has been interviewed by the BBC.  She was named Time Magazine's Most Influential Person for 2013, is already the youngest person ever nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and is considered the frontrunner to receive it when the winner is announced October 11 in Oslo, Norway.  If that happens Friday, she would become the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Malala's message is being heard globally as she works to complete her own education while traveling the world speaking about the equal rights for girls and education for all.issues that are near and dear to her heart.

The nonprofit Malala Fund advocates for girls' education and raises money for schools and tuition in her native Pakistan.
 
A lot has changed for her since that horrific day, but she still has dreams of going back home, getting into politics and changing Pakistan for the better.  "I will be a politician in my future," she said, vowing to make education compulsory.

"I hope that a day will come when the people of Pakistan will be free, they will have their rights, there will be peace, and every girl and every boy will be going to school."

People around the world hope that you get the opportunity to make that dream for your homeland a reality.  

Rani Found Not Guilty In 2010 Pakistan Marriage Case

Remember Rani, the Pakistani transwoman who was arrested during a raid of her northwest Pakistan birthday party and falsely accused of attempting to enter into a same gender marriage with Malik Iqbal two years ago?

I cited this as a example of the annoying pattern of 'gayjacking' trans lives by GL advocacy organizations, the gay media and the Gayosphere to advance the narrow policy agenda of the vanillacentric GL community.  

Yeah, yeah, I and 'errbody' else in the Transosphere and our enlightened allies know that a transwoman and cismale getting married is NOT a same gender marriage.  So do elements of the GL community who shadily try to co-opt and 'gayjack' these types of news stories for their benefit.  

But work with me people on this one and continue reading. 


Some good news has come out of Pakistan in the wake of that initial burst of international publicity and attention surrounding the case    Turns out the charges had to be dropped because prosecutors could find no evidence of Rani attempting to get married.   In addition, Iqbal already had two wives and wasn't looking to add a third.  He was simply at the party to help celebrate Rani's birthday. .

Iqbal told reporters he will file a defamation case against the former chief of the Faqirabad police station who had leveled the charges against him. 

But happiest of all for our Pakistani transsister Rani whose name has been cleared in this jacked up case as well that should have never happened in the first place.