Law minister dismisses claims of legalising homosexuality in Pakistan

What happened: On Sept 22, Federal Minister for Law Azam Nazir Tarar said there is ‘baseless propaganda’ going on against Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill and that the “Parliament cannot implement legislation contradictory to Shariah.” Details: Tarar was speaking at a press conference in the federal capital with Qamar Zaman Kaira, the Prime Minister’s Advisor on Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan. The minister claimed that the aforementioned law was enacted in 2018. “At the time of its enactment, all political parties — including the PML-N, PPP, and others — approved this law, and the chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) was also requested before the law was passed,” he explained. Why it matters: The law minister emphasised that transgender people are equal human beings and that the 2018 legislation was intended to “defend their rights, including inheritance, education, work, health, and property purchase.”