Hijras Pakistan's Transgender

[Kate Thomas]

I found this to be a very intresting story. it gives one a brief insight to another culture.

Kate Alice

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52749&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

LAHORE, 12 Apr 2006 (IRIN/PLUSNEWS) - Looking carefully at her reflection in a shop window, Azra combs out her dark, somewhat stringy hair. She then coyly flicks the lock back over her shoulder, adjusts her red 'duppatta' (scarf), and approaches two women shopping in Pakistan's western city of Lahore. In response to her high-pitched pleas, and saucy comments about their looks, the women hand over a few coins – and Azra sways away, her hips swinging as she moves down the pavement.

Azra was born as Azam, in a village close to the city. Her parents, who already had two daughters, were delighted over the birth of their first son and distributed sweets through the village to mark the occasion.

But, Azra says, talking to IRIN, "Almost from the start, I knew I was different. I felt like wearing the shiny dresses my sisters wore, and playing with their dolls – but I was beaten by my father each time he caught me draping a bright duppatta around my head, or trying on my sisters' shoes."

When he was 15 years old, Azam ran away and his parents seemed relieved to see him go, as did his two younger brothers, both 'real boys', according to Azam. Azam was spotted on the streets of Lahore by other hijras (transvestites or hermaphrodites), and taken home by them to their house in the city's Mozang area, where six 'daughters' lived under the guidance of their 'mistress', an elderly hijra who presides over the unusual household with an iron hand.

The hijras, or transgender people as they are sometimes known, occupy an unusual position within South Asian society. They have long been an entrenched part of the culture in Pakistan and India, with the first references to their existence appearing in ancient Hindu texts dating back to 1000 BC.

[stephanie_craxford]

There is also an article in our Wiki on this that can be found here:

Hijra

Steph