Pakistan’s first-ever school for the trans community set to open

Pakistan’s first-ever school to serve the transgender community is set to open on 15 April.

About the school

Located in Lahore, the school is called The Gender Guardian. The school will offer 12 years of academic education, from the primary level through college.

Additionally, the school will offer lessons in fashion design, tech, graphic design, computer/phone repair, and hair styling/beautician work.

The school’s founder, Asif Shahzad, said the school was built by a non-profit organization called the Exploring The Future Foundation. After the Lahore school opens, the organization plans to open two additional schools in Islamabad and Karachi.

More than 40 transgender students have already registered for classes at The Gender Guardian.

Shahzad said that the school currently has 15 faculty members—three of whom are trans themselves.

The school’s formal launch will include an opening ceremony, which several prominent names from Pakistan’s showbiz community are expected to attend.

Trans rights in Pakistan

The announcement of this school comes at a fraught time for trans people in Pakistan. On one hand, Marvia Malik recently became the country’s first trans news anchor. On the other hand, violence against trans people is still high. Last month, a trans woman was shot 12 times and killed. Her death marked the 55th murder of a trans person in Pakistan’s Peshawar region in just three years.

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