Transgender rights activist Mehrub Moiz Awan was barred from speaking at TEDx International School Lahore (ISL) after some parents of students at the school came forward to complain about a transgender rights activist being included in the panel.
In a Twitter thread, Moiz wrote how the TEDx ISL admin informed her that she was being removed from the speaker’s panel because certain parents have stated that transgender individuals cannot speak to their children.
“I was informed that I am being removed from the speaker’s panel because some parents have stated that they can’t allow transgender people to speak to their kids. This is the International School Lahore btw. No objections to the talk, no additional censorship, just flat-out refusal because ‘parents ko aitraaz hai k koi transgender talk day’ were their exact words. Verbatim. Is this even legal? And if it is, is this censorship?” wrote Moiz.
Designer Maria B is also among those parents who complained about the activist being on the speaker’s panel.
Twitter is condemning the removal of Mehrub Moiz from the speaker’s panel. In solidarity, some other panelists have also decided to boycott the event.
Have a look at some of the reactions:
