The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) has issued its final decision on the petitions challenging the “un-Islamic” Transgender Act 2018. The ruling states that humans cannot change their gender from male to female and vice versa based on their feelings.
The government is required to grant all rights to intersex individuals. The FSC stated that Islam grants all fundamental rights to intersex individuals and declared Sections 2, 3, and 7 of the Transgender Act as un-Islamic.Â
Note here that intersex persons (also called hermaphrodites) are born with ambiguous genitalia, whereas the term ‘transgender’ was introduced in 1965 for individuals who identified themselves with a different gender than the one assigned at birth.
The decision was made by a two-member bench consisting of Acting Chief Justice, Syed Muhammad Anwar, and Justice Khadim Hussain. The judgment was reserved on 11 May after all parties involved in the case completed their arguments.Â
Petitions against the Transgender Act were filed by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Senator Mushtaq Ahmed, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), journalist Orya Maqbool Jan, and others. The court dismissed the petitions when delivering the verdict.
