Pakistani broadcaster

[maybeJan]

An interesting and well-presented story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6111410.stm
S/he's a talk show host, and apparently very popular.

Jan

[ReginaK]

I'm surprised to see she's so well accepted in that part of the world. I know Islam is pretty gender rigid.

[CharleneCD]

I'm surprised to see she's so well accepted in that part of the world. I know Islam is pretty gender rigid.

Actualy it is not as gender rigid as you think. There was a thread a few months back about how Iran will pay for transition surgery. It turns out the Ayatola Khomanie ( yes the one when we had the hostage crisis in the late 70's) proclaimed that there was nothing in the Koran against being Trans.

Now as for sexual orientation, they will still kill you for being gay.

[Karren H]

Good article!!! Thanks! She pulls it off very convincingly!!

Karren

[ReginaK]

Actualy it is not as gender rigid as you think. There was a thread a few months back about how Iran will pay for transition surgery. It turns out the Ayatola Khomanie ( yes the one when we had the hostage crisis in the late 70's) proclaimed that there was nothing in the Koran against being Trans.

Now as for sexual orientation, they will still kill you for being gay.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transsexuality_in_Iran

It seems like being trans is OK as long as you get SRS as quickly as possible. However, non-ops, crossdressers, and anyone else not looking for SRS are still at risk of harassment.

I still think it's gender rigid in the sense that you have to be absolutely one or the other. The middle ground isn't exactly endorsed.

Of course Iran isn't Pakistan. Maybe Pakistan is a bit more liberal.

[Ellaine]

Thanks for that Jan...
Awesome!!! Ali Salim has grown up in a country, we are led to believe is, more hostile to gender ambivolence than we can imagine. Whether the texts of the Quoran are less influential in reality than we are told, or Ali is so genuinely able to disarm and delight his critics we can only guess. We can though, credit him as a survivor against the odds.
Personally I believe Pakistan is showing a tollerance that we are told doesn't exist. OK Ali is getting away with it because he is an entertainer, well isn't that how it was for British gays up to the 60's? We have to stop thinking that we can sum up a country and it's people, with single phrases of hatred quoted from scriptures that are increasingly questioned by an ever more cosmopolitan populace. Pakistan does have a way to go, but inevitably, electricity and television will become more accessable and influential than power crazed religious leaders. Ali Salim is showing that, perhaps they are not as far behind as we are led to believe.

Bravo Ali, and Bravo Begum Nawazish Ali.
A Pakistani crossdressing heroine!! Who'd of thought it?

[Billie Jean]

Ever heard of Rue Paul? Billie Jean