{"id":277842,"date":"2020-09-08T09:50:35","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T04:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/?p=277842"},"modified":"2020-09-08T09:50:35","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T04:50:35","slug":"transgender-christians-get-a-church-of-their-own-in-karachi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/transgender-christians-get-a-church-of-their-own-in-karachi\/","title":{"rendered":"Transgender Christians Get A Church Of Their Own In Karachi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Discrimination against the transgender community is no hidden secret in Pakistan. It’s all the more upsetting when such discrimination is seen in places of religious worship. But in a first for Pakistan, Karachi’s transgender Christian community has now gotten a church of their own to pray in safety.<\/p>\n

Pastor Ghazala Shafiq invited community members to her home, where she has dedicated a small corner to church services.<\/p>\n

\"transgender
Pastor Ghazala Shafiq reads the Bible at a small church set up at her residence for transgender Christians, in Karachi, Pakistan, on August 21, 2020. (AN Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The small church center was inaugurated on August 14, Pakistan’s Independence Day. Pastor Shafiq wanted to give the community a place to pray and worship without worrying about harassment or restrictions.<\/p>\n

Many transgender community members were previously forbidden from entering churches or touching the Bible.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one was willing to pay heed to their problems, though they opened up to me and shared their stories,\u201d the pastor said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to the 2017 census, the country has 10,418 transgender people, out of which 24 percent\u2014 or 2,527\u2014 live in the southern province of Sindh. A number of them who are Christians is unknown, though Shafiq says that around 2,000 transgender Christians live in Karachi.<\/p>\n

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Pastor Ghazala Shafiq speaks to Arab News in a church for transgender Christians in Karachi, pakistan, on August 21, 2020. (AN Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last Friday, about 30 of them visited Shafiq\u2019s makeshift church to perform their religious rituals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a dream come true. I can actually hold the Bible,\u201d 40-year-old Nasira Gill, who attended the service, told Arab News while holding the holy book in her hands.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Nasira Gill, a transgender women, reads the Bible during a Friday prayer service at a church established for transgender Christians in Karachi, Pakistan, on August 21, 2020. (AN Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cNo one ever came to our rescue before, neither our parents nor any church,\u201d she complained, adding that she was always inclined toward religion but had to sit on the backbenches whenever she visited a church to avoid harassment.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople looked at us as if we had committed a crime,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone tried to tell us the right way of following our faith. Some of them insisted that we were women and must cover our heads with a shawl while others believed that we were men and should pray bareheaded.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
Pastor Ghazala Shafiq reads the Bible at a small church set up at her residence for transgender Christians, in Karachi, Pakistan, on August 21, 2020. (AN Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another transgender woman, Bushra said the discriminatory attitudes many of them faced had continued to push them away from places of worship. Discrimination in places of prayer is just one of the many ways in which the transgender community is continually ostracized and kept away from assimilating into society.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople had problems with where we sat,\u201d she told Arab News. \u201cTraditionally, there are separate rows for men and women in Pakistani churches. That leaves us with no space of our own since people kept objecting on why we were occupying one row or another.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people believed that transgender persons were dirty and should not touch the scripture,\u201d Shafiq said. \u201cThis is despite the fact that Christianity gives them equal rights to pray in churches. God has made a special place for them and they are part of our society. We have to deal with them like our other children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Pastor Ghazala Shafiq reads the Bible at a small church set up at her residence for transgender Christians, in Karachi, Pakistan, on August 21, 2020. (AN Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shafiq said that all these issues made her realize that transgender Christians deserved a church of their own.<\/p>\n

\n

ALSO READ<\/p>\n

Transgender Hero Leads Fight Against Covid In New Animated Pakistani Film<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMany people have applauded the initiative,\u201d she said about the church she has opened in her home. \u201cHowever, there were others, including Christians of Pakistani origin who live in the United States and Britain, who called my husband and asked him to stop me from taking this initiative. Some of them dismissively said that I was setting up a church for \u2018hijras\u2019 [a derogatory slur for transgender people].\u201d<\/p>\n

Shafiq now says she is raising funds to construct a proper church building for the transgender community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love reciting the Bible,\u201d said Arzo, who only uses her first name. \u201cUnfortunately, I had to suppress the urge for many years. Things are different now and I can pray to God without being mocked or judged by anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given their struggles, it is indeed heartening that this community of transgender Christians have carved out a safe space for their own.<\/p>\n

via Arab News<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discrimination against the transgender community is no hidden secret in Pakistan. It’s all the more upsetting when such discrimination is seen in places of religious worship. But in a first for Pakistan, Karachi’s transgender Christian community has now gotten a church of their own to pray in safety. Pastor Ghazala Shafiq invited community members to her home, where she has […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":277858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1298,2199],"tags":[],"adace-sponsor":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-277842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-featured"},"wps_subtitle":"The community braves many odds in their quest.","img_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/transgender-church-4-364x205.jpeg",364,205,true],"medium":["https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/transgender-church-4-758x569.jpeg",758,569,true],"full":["https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/transgender-church-4-e1598599659115.jpeg",1000,750,false]},"author_name":"Anmol Irfan","categories_name":["Culture","Featured"],"title_text":"Transgender Christians Get A Church Of Their Own In Karachi","related_stories":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts?filter&per_page=4&categories=1298,2199&exclude=277842","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277842"},{"taxonomy":"adace-sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/adace-sponsor?post=277842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}