Decades hence, when historians are seeking the exact moment when relations between the West and the Muslim world turned the corner to become a model of trust and mutual respect, they will land on the day the Biden administration reached out to help “Transgender Youth” in Pakistan.
No, really. There are trans kids in Pakistan, and they need “professional development.” And now our far-sighted administration is offering a $500,000 grant to teach Pakistani kids English. One of the conditions of the grant is that the recipient provides “intensive professional development courses for Pakistani transgender youth.”
The grant’s goals, according to the administration, are:
(1) Professional Development for English Language Teachers from Non-Mainstream Institutions; (2) Professional Development for novice Pakistani English language teachers; and (3) Professional Development for Transgender Youth and for Afghan Teachers, Students, and Young Professionals Residing in Pakistan.
Okay, so it’s not perfect. While it’s encouraging that the grant prioritizes “Non-Mainstream Institutions” — Montessori madrasas are doing terrific work — let’s hope that definition is not so expansive as to include, say, homeschoolers. U.S. tax dollars shouldn’t be going to help create badly socialized, maladjusted Pakistanis.
Which is why it’s a little disheartening to see the transgender portion of the initiative relegated to third of three priorities and, insult to injury, lumped in with “Afghan Teachers, Students, and Young Professionals Residing in Pakistan.” Being trans is not the same as being an immigrant. (For one thing, trans people have much more interesting fashion sense than the average impoverished refugee.) While both may be marginalized, trans people in traditional Muslim cultures face special challenges regarding a lack of career opportunities.
See, trans stuff like drag shows isn’t super popular in Muslim countries (yet!). So there’s a dearth of role models around to mentor budding drag queens. Joe Biden saw this tragedy as an opportunity. If American aid can build an English-speaking Pakistani community of trained twerkers, we can begin to melt the differences that separate us. This is the “soft power” diplomacy that will bridge the cultural divide with Islamic nations. Joe is beating swords into stripper polls.
Still, it’s hard to get away from the assumptions of Western superiority underpinning the grant. Here’s an administration spokesman:
In this specific grant, the Department provides funding for English-language learning, an integral skill that helps unlock educational and employability opportunities, for marginalized communities, in this case transgender youth.
Expecting Pakistani trans youths to learn English is Western-centric. Ideally, there should be a sister-grant encouraging someone to teach Pakistani to our trans youth. Now that would be some cultural exchange.
The grant asks applicants to specifically address one of the most pressing questions of our time: “What is the most effective way to reach the greatest number of Pakistani transgender youth and Afghan teachers, students, and young professionals from diverse locations across Pakistan?”
I don’t know about the Afghan teachers etc., but if you set the Pakitranny kids up with TikTok accounts and Disney Plus subscriptions, good luck keeping Bud Light’s marketing shop away from them.
Now if we could just get Muslims to drink beer.
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