Transgender TV Anchor Challenges Pakistani Culture From A News Desk | NBC Out (Video)

#MarviaMalik #PakistaniCulture #Transgender

Abandoned by her family and stigmatized by society, trans journalist Marvia Malik breaks barriers and challenges discrimination as Pakistan’s first transgender news anchor.

Marvia Malik was a model and is now also a television news anchor. She told BBC News that she was so excited when she got the anchor job that she had to stop herself from screaming. Malik studied journalism in school and said she cried when she got the news about her new role.

Many Pakistani transgender people aren’t treated as equals and, like Malik, are sometimes pushed out of or disowned by their families. The Senate in Pakistan voted in favor of a bill earlier this month that, if passed into law, would protect transgender people and allow them to decide their own gender rather than requiring a medical examination. The bill would eliminate the examination process and also mean companies could no longer discriminate against trans people, Times of India reported. Malik is bringing visibility to transgender people in a society in which they are frequently treated poorly. Her first broadcast received a lot of support on social media from people in Pakistan as well as from celebrities in the United States.BY NINA GODLEWSKI