[Jamie McDaniel]

Pakistan: Transgender Husband and his Wife Separated and Imprisoned

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6697527.stm

From an IGLHRC action alert:

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has been closely monitoring the case of a female to male transgender man and his female born wife who were hiding from family violence, turned to the court for help, and ended up in prison. Thirty-one year old Shumail Raj who has been a transgender man for 16 years and 26-year old Shahzina Tariq were married according to Muslim law in September 2006. In May 2007, Shahzina's father testified in court that Shumail was not a man. The judge ordered a medical examination, which showed that Shumail had undergone gender reassignment surgery to remove his uterus and breasts. On May 22, the Lahore High Court found the couple guilty of perjury and fined each of them 10,000 rupees and sentenced them to 3 years in prison. The court's reasoning was that Shumail was a woman who lied about being a man, and the couple lied about the legality of their marriage since two women in Pakistan cannot marry. Shumail and Shahzina are now serving their sentence in two separate women's prisons in two different cities.