The transgender community scored a historic victory last week when the Islamabad High Court granted their writ petition ruling that authorities must add a transgender category to the national census form. Since September 2016, the Trans Action Alliance Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Trans Action KP) has been pushing a writ petition calling for a more inclusive national census in Pakistan. The writ petition came in response to the Pakistani government’s decision to delete an element of the census, which transgender individuals were originally listed under. The deletion left only female and male columns as selectable options for registrants in the census. Advocates for the Trans Action Alliance used Article 199 of the Constitution to file the writ petition against government entities involved in the census.

In addition, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) may have to issue Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs) that define transgender as a selectable option for gender. Trans Action KP is the “first ever organized transgender movement of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan,” and works to advance the rights of the trans community. The movement is an initiative of the progressive Pakistani civil society organization, Blue Veins.