Transphobic mindset led to death threats for a Pakistani newscaster
Marvia Malik, a Pakistani news anchor, was getting calls for quite some time for standing for the transgender community. These calls and messages were life threatening. While she was returning from a pharmacy in Lahore, two assailants opened gunfire on her. Somehow she could escape from the place. Her ‘activism’ for raising voice against transphobia was seen to be the reason behind this.
Malik has relocated to Islamabad and Mulan out of fear. She said that she had returned to Lahore for a surgery.
Malik became the first ever transgender newsreader of Pakistan in 2018. She was earlier ‘disowned’ by her family after she came out as transgender. After becoming a newsreader she wanted to have a major impact on the society, she claimed. She came out to be an example for all the trans people out there. She is demanding for the reservation of transgender in parliament and the employment sector.
Malik’s career as a transgender started after her first appearance on Pakistani local channel ‘Kohinoor’.