The transgender community organized a rally and a festival on Friday at the Arts Council to demand their rights and job opportunities without further delay.

The event was named the “Hijra Festival” by an organizing committee that included Dr. Sara Gill, Hina Pathani, Nisha Rao, Bebo Haider, and Kami Sid. The festival demanded equal opportunities and sought to draw attention to and end social discrimination against the community.

Numerous transgender people marched to the Arts Council, dancing and beating drums, from the Karachi Press Club to Fawara Chowk. In order to demonstrate that they did not lack talent, they had also set up a number of clothing and jewelry stalls at the Arts Council.

They were from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Balochistan, and Sindh, among other parts of the country. They carried placards and banners. ’Hejray tau jaag rahe hain/Sau tau ye muashra gaya hai ’(The transgender community is awake/But society has fallen asleep) was the message on the large pink banner that they carried as they made their way from the Karachi Press Club Roundabout to the Arts Council of Pakistan.

Their three points—“existence, resistance, and resilience”—were also mentioned.

There were a variety of serious and humorous messages written on the placards. Some read “Looking wow!” while others read “Proud of our existence.”