From Criminalization to Empowerment: Behavioral Strategies Against Systemic Inequities for Transgender Individuals in Pakistan

There is intense debate in Pakistan around the question of whether gender dysphoria should be classified as a medical condition or viewed as an inherent aspect of a person’s identity. According to the ICD-11 classification and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- 5 (DSM-5) manual from the American Psychiatric Association (APA), gender dysphoria is an “incongruence” between the person’s perceived gender and the birth-assigned gender. It is worth mentioning that Pakistan does not have any national psychiatric guidelines to follow for transgender individuals. Most of the guidelines have been taken from DSM-5 and the Royal College of Psychiatry. While gender dysphoria is recognized as a condition in international diagnostic manuals, many argue that this classification should not be equated with regarding transgender identities as illnesses. Gender is a subjective perception that should be respected and affirmed.