Maria B Called Out for Her Insensitive ‘Transphobic’ Comments Again

Maria B posted a video with her sisters Najia and Aafia discussing the law and a “hot topic” but earned ire for it.

There have been a lot of controversies in the Pakistani media industry regarding the transgender community, and the name on top of the list is Maria B’s. The designer is receiving a lot of backlash once again for her remarks on a controversial and sensitive issue in her Instagram video of herself discussing the law with her sisters and stating that the ‘Transgender Act of Pakistan’ is a “hot topic” that will “affect their children and society”.

The sisters — Maria Najia, and Aafia — questioned Pakistani lawmakers and asked whether the law applies to people like Caitlyn Jenner.

Her sister Najia said, “No, not, this act was made for the khwaja sira community. They are intersex people and there’s a massive difference between them and transgenders. In the act that represents the marginalized community, after 70 years when we’re doing something for them, and transgenders have usurped their rights”.

The sisters also put forward their unsolicited opinions without having proper knowledge of the act.

Facts

  1. Parliament passed a law in 2018 to recognize transgender individuals legally, enshrining their rights to education, basic health facilities, the right to affirm their transgender identity on ID cards and passports, as well as the right to vote and contest elections.
  2. A consultation with the Chairman of the Council for Islamic Ideology had been requested regarding the Transgender Rights Act.
  3. Parliament continues to debate the matter while two petitions filed in the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) await their verdicts.

This topic is quite technical and sensitive on religious, legal, and social levels and should not be addressed in a casual manner. Having no knowledge about a sensitive and controversial topic but sharing opinions about it can be problematic. 

One of Maria’s sisters said that DNA and blood tests could ‘prove’ whether someone is khwaja sira, transgender, or cisgender. As for the merits of the law, it does not contain any verses from the Quran or Hadith, she claimed.

Note that laws are made according to established systems. If and when religious guidance is required, input from learned religious bodies is sought and incorporated, as is being done at the moment. 

Maria B was previously embroiled in a fiasco involving her rejection of Dr. Mehrub Moiz Awan, a prominent face of the khwaja sira community, from speaking at an academic event. A researcher, and policy specialist by profession, Dr. Awan was removed from the panel of speakers at the TEDx conference that was scheduled to take place at the International School Lahore (ISL).

Later on, the designer lauded the organizers’ decision to remove Dr. Awan from the panel, but she was labeled as ‘transphobic’ for her stance on the matter.