In yet another regressive stance, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader MK Muneer questioned the logic behind the reports that a trans man had delivered a baby in Kerala, saying that those who believe in such a claim “live in a fool’s paradise”. The Koduvally MLA also said that the presence of a uterus is what makes a person a woman, and that the gender identity of the trans man was “hollow”. He made the statement while speaking at a Wisdom Islamic Conference in Kozhikode on Sunday, February 12.
This is the latest instance of IUML leaders making homophobic and transphobic comments. In December 2022, senior Muslim League leader Abdurahiman Randathani claimed that boy and girl students were made to sit together in school and were being taught about masturbation and homosexuality. Last month, another IUML leader, KM Shaji, called the LGBTQIA+ community a “shame” and the “worst kind of people”. A Mathrubhumi report quoted him as saying, “The word LGBTQ sounds like something important, but those are uncouth local activities. They are the worst humans. They are projecting it as colourful, but the term itself is dangerous, it creates anarchy in society. Deciding one’s gender after growing up is just silly.”
Muneer’s statement comes just as the trans community in Kerala is celebrating the birth of a baby to trans couple Ziya Paval and Zahad Fazil last week. Muneer said that “homosexual couples can never conceive” and termed as “hollow” the claim that the person who had delivered a baby in Kerala recently was a trans man. “The person who gave birth to a baby was actually a woman, although she had removed her breasts to look like a man. The presence of a womb in the person who gave birth to the baby proves that it was actually a woman,” he said, adding that those who believe in such wonders are living in a fool’s paradise.
Ziya and Zahad are currently trying to register their new gender identity in the birth certificate and other documents of their newborn. Though Zahad had delivered the child, the trans-man wanted his name to be registered as the father of the baby and Ziya, his trans woman partner as the mother. Ziya had said that a request had been submitted to the Government Medical College Hospital authorities for the same.
(With PTI inputs)