Senate chairman refers proposed amendments in transgender rights' act to standing committee for debate.

ISLAMABAD -- Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani on Monday referred the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, to the relevant standing committee for debate in order to reach a consensual decision on the matter.

The amendment bill was presented by PTI Senator Fauzia Arshad.

The National Assembly had enacted the Transgender Persons (Protection of Right) Act in 2018 to provide legal recognition to transgender persons and ensure that discrimination against transgender persons in various walks of life shall be punishable.

The law was made after the Supreme Court held on Sept 25, 2012, that eunuchs were entitled to all the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and enjoyed by other members of society.

Some religious parties, however, have since been of the opinion that the law gives legal protection to homosexuality. Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) recently became a party to a case assailing the law in the Federal Shariat Court (FSC), while Maulana Fazlur Rahman of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl), a key ally of the federal government, has termed the law as 'against the teachings of Islam'.

During the Senate session today, Senator Mohsin Aziz voiced his reservations with the legislation, saying he was now regretting not opposing the bill when it was introduced and approved in 2018.

'There is a difference between transgender and intersex ... we should beg pardon from Allah,'...