Watch: A queer couple from Pakistan is trying to change perceptions about the LGBTQ community
‘I don’t think we need anyone’s permission to love.’
“Love is love. And it can happen at any time, with anyone,” says Kami Sid, a transgender rights activist from Pakistan in a video (above) by Cutacut, a media platform from Pakistan. “I don’t think we need anyone’s permission to love.”
Cutacut interviewed Kami, a transgender woman, and Siddique, her gay boyfriend, who have been together for nine years to shed light on queer relationships and counter the discrimination that many people from the LGBTQ community face in Pakistan and many other parts of the world.
Kami and Sid didn’t have it easy, living in a primarily orthodox society where their so-called “difference” from proscribed norms was treated like a taboo, or something to be kept hidden. However, to quote the Beatles, it turns out “love is all you need”.
On International Women’s Day, the video also serves as an important reminder to be inclusive of transgender women and girls while celebrating women. If anyone has any doubts on the subject, perhaps the story of Rebekah Bruesehoff, a 10-year-old transgender girl, can shed some light. Watch below: