A Federal Shariat Court (FSC) verdict against the transgender act has sparked a war of words between the parties in favour of the law and those in opposition, with designer Maria B again calling it a threat to the rights of cis women.
In May, the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) partially struck down the Transgender (Protection of Rights) Act 2018, declaring Section 2(f) (definition of ‘gender identity’), Section 2(n)(iii) (definition of ‘Transgender Person’), Section 3 (recognition of the identity of a transgender person), and Section 7 (right to inherit) of the act were against the injunctions of Islam.
Opponents have accused the law of having the potential to legally recognize homosexual rights in the name of transgender rights. In the ruling, the court noted that the “use of the term “transgender” to refer to gender identity based on self-perceived identity as opposed to a person’s biological sex is contrary to Islamic injunctions”.
As the verdict has been challenged before the Supreme Court it has spurred an online spat involving renowned faces, who are leaving no stone unturned to take a dig at rival viewpoints.
For instance, Maria Butt, the founder of a very famous clothing brand Maria B, while giving her own version, in favour of the verdict, castigated the appellants who had approached the apex court seeking a reversal of FSC ruling.
In a video statement released on Twitter on July 20, Maria B accused a few “liberals” of harassing the proponents of the verdict. She claimed the filing of the appeal was akin to an “attack on our religious beliefs, family system and on the future of our children”.
She said she and other supporters of the FSC verdict against the transgender act would also become a party and contest the case.
She asked cis women to come in their support as it was an attack on their rights as well.
Responding to the video, rights activist Marvi Sirmed claimed that Maria B was trying to resurrect her dying business by “selling religion.”
She said that she would share with her some science articles which would “educate her on sexual and gender identities.”
In a series of subsequent tweets, share shared a science article with the following caption: “While sex might be understood as binary (contested now), gender isn’t. Here’s an explanatory piece from Seed Scientific.”
According to the article, there is a sharp contrast between gender and sex. The article claimed that sex is biological but gender is a “social construct” and varies from place to place and society to society.
Murtaza Solangi, a journalist and former DG of Radio Pakistan, also reacted strongly to Maria B’s video statement.
He questioned if according to Maria B God has only created men and women in this world, then who has created transgender?
“Are you blind? Can’t you see they exist? Don’t they have rights as human beings?” he said.
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman also criticised Maria B, calling her “poor girl” who she suggested wanted to control everything.
