“Respect for every human” was the theme of the US Embassy event held on 12th May 2017 to highlight the discrimination in education & economics and negative stereotyping the transgender community in South Asia, particularly in Pakistan face in their day to day lives. The event was attended by civil society representatives, members of the Youth Council and US Embassy Officials.

The transgender community is not only marginalized but also segregated and isolated and is excluded from the mainstream society. Their shared stories and narratives spoke tales of horrors they face every day. 

A young officer of the International Office at COMSATS Institute of Information Technology - CIIT, Engr. Qaiser Nawab, participated as a panelist in the discussion forum and not only highlighted the distress but also gave suggestions on what the youth and the general public could do to stop this discrimination. He also shed light on efforts made by CIIT to project openness and empowerment of this community. He was hopeful that CIIT would soon have a policy to fully mainstream this community. 

For these words, a big round of applause was received where the US embassy officials who valued CIIT contribution and showed keen interest to hold follow up events at CIIT premises.