Transgenderism and confusion By Dr M Ahmed Abdullah.

IN 1965, German born American psychiatrist, Dr. John Oliven, coined the term Transgender in his book titled: Sexual Hygiene and Pathology.

It is considered to be an umbrella term which refers to people who do not conform to their biological gender and carry the social identity of the gender opposite to theirs.

The term Transsexual refers to people who undergo gender reassignment surgical and medical procedures to achieve their desired genders, while Transvestite people simply cross dress as their opposite biological sex.

The same distribution can also be seen on a cultural level in Pakistan's transgender culture. Hijra is the umbrella term which further includes people who are born with ambiguous genitalia (Khusra), men who simply cross dress without altering their biological sex (Zanana) and men who surgically modify their bodies to associate with the female sex (Narban).

In a study conducted in the transgender populations of Lahore and Karachi in 2011, genital examinations were conducted on 400 transgender women.

It was discovered that out of the 400 people examined, 397 were physically men, one had a birth defect and two had undergone gender change surgeries.

The Khwaja Saraa community has existed in the Indian sub-continent since antiquity.

The literature named Kama Shastra the ancient Hindu text in which they have been referred as 'tritiyapakriti' or third gender has been an integral part of vedic and puranic literatures, it classifies men who desire other men as a 'third nature'.

The recent Transgender protection act has only added to the confusion regarding the issue. It is a hastily written document that ignores many cultural realities.

It includes three entities into the definition of transgender people; intersex people with congenital birth defects, surgically modified individuals and those whose gender identity preference differs from their assigned sex at birth.

The government aims to facilitate the human rights of these minority groups, which is an excellent idea, however these physical...