Claim: Social media posts claim that the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018 has been rejected.
Fact: The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018 — or any other transgender bill for that matter — has not been rejected either in the National Assembly of Pakistan or the Senate. One amendment was introduced in the National Assembly, five proposed legislations in the Senate, and one new bill was introduced in the Senate. None of these have been passed or rejected.
On 29 September 2022, the Facebook page ‘یو تھیا جراسیم’ posted the following text:
“بریکنگ نیوز 2018 عمرانی فتنے میں پیش کیا گیا ٹرانس جینڈر بل اسپیکر قومی اسمبلی راجہ پرویز اشرف نے مسترد کر دیا۔ [Breaking News, the Transgender Bill presented during the 2018 Imrani Fitna [the time of Imran Khan, the mischief-maker] was rejected by Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf.].”
Other versions of similar posts include:
- “بریکنگ نیوز ٹرانس جینڈر بل مسترد کردیا گیا، مولانااسلام کا ٹھیکیدار ہی نہیں بلکہ اسمبلی میں اسلام کا چوکیدار بھی ہے جیو مولانا صاحب [Breaking News, the Transgender Bill has been rejected, the Maulana is not the caretaker of Islam but also the guardian of Islam in the Assembly.]”
- “ٹرانس جینڈر بل مسترد کردیا گیا ہے جماعت اسلامی ،اوریا مقبول جان ، مذہبی جماعتوں اور تمام مسلمان پاکستانیوں کی کوشش کا نتیجہ ۔ لبرل جماعتوں کو منہ کی کھانی پڑی [The transgender bill has been rejected as a result of the efforts of Jamaat-e-Islami, Orya Maqbool Jan, religious parties, and all Pakistani Muslims. Liberal parties were humiliated].”
- “بریکنگ نیوز!! ٹرانس جینڈر بل مسترد کردیا گیا یااللہ مولانا فضل الرحمان اور ہم سب مسلمانوں کی حفاظت اورمدد فرما امین یا رب العالمین [Breaking News!! The Transgender Bill has been rejected. May God protect and help Maulana Fazlur Rehman and all of us Muslims. Ameen, O’ Lord of the Worlds].”
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf is the incumbent Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check searched Google for any such news regarding the transgender bill or the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018 being rejected, but found nothing. The websites of the National Assembly and the Senate of Pakistan do not indicate any updates either.
The only relevant document, found under the ‘Private Members’ Bills’ category, was submitted by PPP leader Qadir Khan Mandokhail on 2 August 2022 that increases the punishment for offences and crimes against the transgender community and assigns a magistrate court to hear such cases.
Presently, five bills have been introduced in the Senate of Pakistan, seeking to amend the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018. These drafts were submitted by:
- Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP) Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan
- Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Fawzia Arshad
- PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz
- Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Mohammad Sabir Shah
- Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Senators Molana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Attaur Rehman, Molvi Faiz Mohammad, and Kamran Murtaza
JIP Senator Mushtaq Ahmed has also introduced a completely new bill, titled “Khunsa Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2022,” which effectively repeals the entire Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018.
Soch Fact Check also browsed the Twitter accounts of Raja Pervez Ashraf and the National Assembly of Pakistan but found nothing to support the claim that the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018 — or any transgender bill — has been repealed.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the period from 1 September 2022 to 20 October using the following search terms:
- “ٹرانس جینڈر بل مسترد کردیا گیا ہے”
- “ٹرانس جینڈر بل اسپیکر قومی اسمبلی راجہ پرویز اشرف نے مسترد کر دیا”
- “بریکنگ نیوز 2018 میں پیش کیا گیا ٹرانس جینڈر بل اسپیکر قومی اسمبلی راجہ پرویز اشرف نے مسترد کر دیا”
The first search term turned up more than 50 posts that gained close to 2,700 interactions on Facebook, whereas the second and third search terms yielded 1,537 interactions and 998 interactions across 14 and 13 Facebook posts, resp ectively.
A post by the Facebook page ‘Peshawar Live پشاور’ makes the same claim but has added screenshots of a copy of the bill submitted by JUI-F Senators Molana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Attaur Rehman, Molvi Faiz Mohammad, and Kamran Murtaza as proof. This bill has not been passed but only introduced in the Senate, not the National Assembly.
Other Facebook posts are available here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Moreover, user ‘Irshad Raja’ shared the same post multiple times on different Facebook groups such as here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018 — or any other transgender bill for that matter — has not been rejected either in the National Assembly of Pakistan or the Senate. One amendment was introduced in the National Assembly, five proposed legislations in the Senate, and one new bill was introduced in the Senate. None of these have been passed or rejected.