From Traffic Signals to City Courts: How Pakistan’s First Transgender Lawyer Made History

KARACHI : At a busy traffic signal in Karachi, cars would stop and a young transgender woman would move from window to window seeking a few rupees. A few years later, the same woman was maneuvering among the throng of black-coated attorneys at Karachi’s City Courts searching for her client — as Pakistan’s first transgender lawyer.

Lawyer Nisha Rao, 28, carved a path from the streets to the courtroom, inspiring many others.

*”I am proud to have become Pakistan’s first transgender lawyer,”* Rao said.

Rao’s journey began with hardship. She ended up begging on the streets after leaving her middle-class home in Lahore when she was 18 with two other transgender persons. Arriving in Karachi, the elder transgender people she sought refuge with advised her to beg or become a sex worker to survive. She stood at traffic lights begging from car to car but was determined to escape that path, eventually using her income to pay for law classes at night.

After several years, she earned a law degree from Sindh Muslim Law College, gained her law license in 2020 and joined the Karachi Bar Association. By that year, she had already contested 50 cases while working with a non-governmental organisation fighting for transgender rights.

Her colleagues at the bar took notice.

*”Fellow lawyers at City Court are also humble with her. They guide and help her,”* said a colleague at City Courts.

Her clients range beyond the trans community.

*“As my case pertains to harassment, I feel that Rao can represent me best since transgenders are subjected to frequent harassment in our society,”* said Jeya Alvi, 34, an office secretary who consulted Rao.

But she has not forgotten her roots.

*“Rao used to beg here along with us, today she is better than many. But she still helps us, she even responds at midnight,”* said Nayab, a transgender community member from Karachi.

Rao’s dream doesn’t stop at the black coat.

*“My goal is to become Pakistan’s first transgender judge,”* she said.

For a community that often faces limited opportunities in education and employment, Rao’s journey from begging at signals to arguing cases in court stands as a story of resilience, dignity, and the right to dream.