Advocating for the Trans Community
As a queer, trans, and Shi’a Muslim growing up in Pakistan, Haseena Zaidi felt surrounded by hatred and violence. But they found refuge in a theater group at school.
“I became interested in the idea of ‘communities of care’ from an early age and worked constantly to create and facilitate these spaces,” they say.
“Art has radical potential for trans liberation in Pakistan, and I want to tap into its multiple possibilities.”
While earning their undergraduate degree at Swarthmore College, Zaidi became intrigued with how systems of care are inaccessible to some populations. As a Davis Projects for Peace fellow, they traveled back to Pakistan to help two hospitals implement a novel gender-sensitivity training curriculum for staff. Several months later, they founded Doctors Informing Devolution. Over the next three years, the group helped expand the gender-sensitivity model across Punjab and presented a report to Pakistan’s Ministry of National Health Services explaining the harm of a decentralized care model on sexual and gender minorities.
After earning their undergraduate degree, Zaidi returned to Pakistan. Here, they founded and currently lead Zenaan-Khana (ZK), an organization that creates visibility around the marginalization of trans and queer Pakistanis through trans-led artivist initiatives and collaborations with leading artists.
With an MPH from the Bloomberg School, concentrating in social and behavioral sciences, Zaidi plans to continue this advocacy and work within Gender and Sexuality Studies (GSS) in any capacity, with plans to eventually pursue a PhD in the GSS field or an adjacent discipline.
“I’m interested in mainstreaming the trans perspective and improving life for this beautiful community,” they say.
