LAHORE – For transgender students involved in a very special project at a culinary school in Pakistan, there is more to a class than just learning the art of cooking.
Neha Malik used to dance at parties and weddings for a living and was, occasionally, a sex worker. Since January, she has been enrolled in a new course for the trans community at the Culinary & Hotel Institute of Pakistan.
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The free six-month program in the city of Lahore, Pakistan's cultural capital, welcomed its first group of 25 trans students in January; the second group of 25 began training on Feb. 1.
Now, Malik, 31, dreams of working as a chef in Dubai, the futuristic, skyscraper-studded city in the United Arab Emirates.
She never misses a class. “I am so absorbed in learning that I don’t have time to dance anymore,” she added.
Many Pakistanis have entrenched beliefs on gender and sexuality, and trans people are often considered outcasts in the conservative Muslim-majority country. Some are forced into begging, dancing and even prostitution to earn money. They also live in fear of attacks.
The U.N. development agency said last year that the majority of trans people in Pakistan reported experiencing violence or abuse and that most reported being denied employment opportunities because of their gender identity. Just 7% were employed in formal sectors, the UNDP added.
Trans women in public office and the media have raised awareness about a marginalized and misunderstood community, and overall, the community has seen some progress in the protection of their rights.
Supreme Court rulings allow them to self-identify as a third gender, neither male nor female, and have underscored they have the same rights as all Pakistani citizens.
Last year, Lahore got its first ride-sharing service for trans people and women in an effort to protect them from discrimination and harassment, and in 2022 Pakistan launched a hotline for trans people.
“Society usually looks down on us,” said Malik. “We have to change this mindset. Now, people come up to me and ask what I do when they see me in a chef’s coat and hat.”
Since classes started, students file into the Lahore culinary school with backpacks and beaming smiles, swapping their colorful clothes for white uniforms.
However, it's a struggle. They each get a monthly stipend of 8,000 rupees, around $26 — nowhere near enough to live on as a student.
“How can we survive on that when my rent is 15,000 rupees?” said 26-year-old Zoya Khan. Her utility bills swallow up most of it, she said.
So she performs at a few events a month.
“I used to earn a decent amount (from dancing), I won’t lie," she added. But “there was no respect in it.”
“Why do we come here? It’s because we see hope,” said Khan, who wants to start her own business after graduating — a roadside cafe.
Nadia Shehzad, the institute’s chief executive, said the project will help the trans community, a "rejected and ignored sector of society” get equal recognition.
The school is trying to get government officials to help the aspiring chefs with visas to go abroad for work, Shehzad said. There are also talks with local hotels and restaurants about jobs once the students graduate — with wages of up to 30,000 rupees, or about $107.
Still, it's not easy for for trans people to leave behind dancing, begging and sex work for the culinary program, said Shabnam Chaudry, a trans community leader.
Many wonder if society would give them work — or if people at restaurants would eat food cooked by trans chefs.
In the past, Chaudry said she had seen many trans people taking makeup and sewing courses, only to fail to find jobs afterward and be forced to return to begging and dancing to survive.
She is also concerned about their prospects of finding a job: Pakistan has hundreds of thousands of young people with skills and degrees who cannot find work.
“In the face of this tough competition, who will give jobs to trans people," Chaudry asked. "People are not ready to shake hands with us.”