Samaa TV at it again, on the SAME morning show no doubt, only with a different moral police this time, Sanam Baloch. On their recent episode, the pretty but rather ignorant and petty Sanam Baloch decided to discuss the “issue” of gender disparity in transgendered people, though they did not know to call it that, and condemn the act of transgendered men and women going through sex change operations, as according to them it was AGAINST Islam and a SIN.

There were so MANY things wrong with what this show said regarding the transgender community that I shall have to dissect it step by step.
First of all, what I disliked about this show is how Sanam Baloch invited two main guests, BOTH of which were AGAINST the whole concept of gender change operations or giving into ones effeminate nature as a man and presumably, the opposite. When one is aiming at a discussion, ANY discussion, it is WISE to invite people with DIFFERING views on the topic so that the viewers get the WHOLE picture and not just one conservative side of the coin, because that is misleading to our already ignorant population, as well as the younger generation that might watch the show.

Secondly, Sanam Baloch herself had absolutely NO KNOWLEDGE of transexuality or transgendered people, and her main purpose seemed to be SHOVING her version of Islam and righteousness down the throats of the two transgendered guests that had invited on the show. Sentences like “YEH TOU GUNNA HAY” and “Aap unsay aisi baat kerain jiss say unhain khuda ka khauf ho” were EXTREMELY repellent, disturbing and rather reminiscent of Maya Khan’s moral policing activities.

The callers that they received, who had no issues going into details of how the ENTIRE Transgender community apparently ONLY hammed up their femininity to earn money on the streets through begging and prostitution, painted an OVERLY negative and biased picture that was WRONGLY generalized to the entire community with no one to counter these incorrect assumptions because of the general IGNORANCE of the host and the guests in the show.

The people on the show presented their negative assumptions and interpretations regarding what Islam had to say on this topic as FACT instead of OPINION, which was another issue I feel should be highlighted. In a country that houses 73 different sects of Islam alone, how in the WORLD can you interpret scripture ONE way and present it as the ONLY truth?!

In the end why I have these issues with such shows are not because they choose to talk on such controversial topics, instead because they choose topics that they have absolutely NO KNOWLEDGE of themselves, no apparent interest or efforts seen to GAIN knowledge before diving into doing a show on them, and absolutely no sense of WHICH guests to invite for a BALANCED discussion on these topics so as NOT to seem prejudiced against them or to MISINFORM the public regarding existing sections of our society. THESE seemingly small and inconsequential details when overlooked, can have DEVASTATING consequences on the masses who have no other source to gain information and knowledge from but these shows. It is the IRRESPONSIBLE airing of shows like this that is helping cultivate a generation of hateful, bigoted, narrow-minded, and IGNORANT individuals that will no doubt destroy any hope of a peaceful, compassionate, inclusive and progressive future for Pakistan.

Shame on Samaa TV for letting this happen ONCE AGAIN after having issued public apologies only recently for neglecting media ethics and promising to build a more vigilant screening system. We can see what your word is worth.

An incredibly heartbreaking story by Animal Care Association Pakistan about a local pup and his fight for life that everyone must read and share.

“We are surrounded by cruelty in Pakistan ALL THE TIME. We witness it first hand every day. Every time we pass a donkey cart thats loaded with too much weight. When we see people throwing stones at a scared dog. When we see under fed camels at the beach being used for entertainment while their owner beats them with sticks to “steer” them. We see it every time a clifton cantonment board truck slowly passes through our neighborhoods throwing chunks of poisoned meat randomly to kill every dog, cat, puppy, kitten or EAGLE who might be unfortunate enough to chance upon it. Despite ALL of these first hand sightings of cruelty, DESPITE the thousands upon thousands of lives LOST in front of our eyes or under the tyres of our cars, we STILL CHOOSE to ignore the plight of animals? Despite all of this excessive violence aimed towards the MOST MARGINALIZED and HELPLESS part of our society, we choose to turn our heads the other way and remain indifferent? Are we even worthy of being called human if we lack the basic humanity that makes us so?

We urge you all to OPEN your hearts and minds and bring yourself to CARE for beings OTHER than yourself, because in the words of Ingrid Newkirk, “when it comes to having a central nervous system, and the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.”" -PFAR

If any of you run your own blogs, or work for your school newsletter etc, PLEASE write about the atrocities committed by educational institutions against students belonging to minority groups! Raise your voice against inequality, discrimination and abuse!

Having sat through the entire presentation, literally shaking in anger, I finally got the chance towards the end to question why they had misrepresented Psychology’s stance towards homosexuality, when both the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychological Association removed homosexuality from DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual) as a disorder in 1973 and 1975. Before this could be answered properly, our professor rudely interrupted me and asked if I could please tell her who had told me that Psychology considered homosexuality to be normal. Simply dismissing my rant of ‘EVERY Psychology course book authorized by this university and the american psychological association itself, not to mention the scientific and behavioral researches that have been conducted on the topic of sexual variance’, she continued to talk about how the only reason APA removed homosexuality from their “mental disorders” list was due to social pressure from various human rights organizations, and how it is likely that they will declare it to be a disorder again very soon.

Our groups topic of presentation is LGBT rights in Pakistan, and we wanted to show sexual variance as normal within the sexual spectrum, talk about how homophobia effects the society as a whole, and suggest ways to combat the problem of state endorsed intolerance, a plan which I feel she may as well have PISSED ALL OVER. More than anything though, I was truly disgusted by her stubborn refusal as a psychologist, to view things objectively, or even consider how her premature judgement was the key ingredient in fueling prejudice against (or equivalent to a magnificent turd on) our efforts to make people see sexual variance as a normal objective reality, rather than an abnormal sin.

1)  Being gay is not natural. Real Men always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

2)  Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3)  Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behaviour. People may even wish to marry their pets    because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4)  Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5)  Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britney Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6)  Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.

7)  Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8)  Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in this country.

9)  Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10)  Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

To people who’re not too familiar with sarcasm… this’d be it!