Transgender activist Kami Sid to take on taboos in new film

KARACHI: The first thing you notice about transgender activist and model Kami Sid is her confidence.

Her photoshoot went viral on social media where she marked herself as the first transgender fashion model for Pakistan.

“The photoshoot took so long. I was worried I will get late for my friend’s Mehndi,” Kami laughs, as she speaks to Geo.tv on the sets of morning show Geo Pakistan.

Kami is now set to star in a short film Rani, a movie which will tackle social taboos associated to transgender men and women. "The movie touches on several social issues," she says.

Born in Karachi and raised by a single mother, she says life was tough. “We were seven siblings and it wasn’t easy.”

She was 22 when she finally came to terms with her identity. “You know your mother is your mother. She will love you no matter what. But people said ugly things,” she says.

Growing up, she adds, she always felt feminine. “I would not go out. I would hide indoors.”

She eventually began working for a not-for-profit organisation which worked on AIDS. It was then that she realised that she should celebrate the fact that she was different. “In the end its just about loving yourself.”

Now she wants to spend time mentoring other transgenders. 

Watch our interview with her here: