We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir

Habib would like to include LGBTQ+ Muslim people in countries like Pakistan in their photography project, yet they do not feel safe returning to Pakistan as an openly LGBTQ+ Ahmadi Muslim. LGBTQ+ people in Pakistan have a long and varied history, including the Hijra mentioned in We Have Always Been Here (See: Index of Terms). Pakistan was subjected to British colonial rule and suffered many of the imported anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments of the British colonizers, a trend noted by LGBTQ+ scholars in all previous colonies of England. The Pakistani Penal Code was developed under the British Raj and outlawed non-heterosexual sex as early as the 1860s. The Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 established by the British outlawed what we would consider today to be transgender people. Transgender and nonbinary people in Pakistan face more violence, prejudice, and discrimination than other LGBTQ+ people.

The Pakistani Penal Code remains in place today under different names. The rights of transgender people have been particularly tumultuous: In 2018, official legal protection was afforded and then revoked as of 2023. In Pakistan, the third gender category is called “Khwaja Sira,” which includes transgender people. The Khwaja Sira of Pakistan are at the forefront of the push for equity and equality.