The last time I rose to speak to you about Pakistan, it was a time of sorrow. It was then when I expressed my deepest hope that the next time I spoke to you about Pakistan, it would be with good news.

Today, I am very happy to be able to share some positive news with you. This week in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, the government announced that for the first time in the history of the province transgender people would be protected under the law.

Furthermore, a significant amount of government funding has been allocated in the budget to fund wide-ranging services for the 50,000 or more transgender people in the province. Also, a transgender census will be conducted this year for the first time in the country's history.

Honourable senators, this is a breakthrough moment for Pakistan and for my home province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is one of the most conservative and most targeted provinces in Pakistan.

But most of all, this is a breakthrough moment and a time to celebrate inclusion for the historically marginalized transgender people of Pakistan.

The call for transgender rights in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was a fervent demonstration of democracy in action. There had been a string of violent attacks against transgender people.

Last month, a transgender activist known as Alisha was shot multiple times, but she died in hospital while administrators were debating whether she should be admitted into the men's ward or the women's ward for medical care.

After Alisha's death, citizens of Peshawar, including hundreds of transgender people, rallied in the streets demanding transgender people's right to protection.

Brave transgender activists worked tirelessly to achieve this victory and recognition of their human rights. However, we must never forget that 46 transgender people were violently lost along the way.

At this time, when members of the LGBTQ community in Florida have been massacred or injured, supposedly in the name of Islam, it brings a small measure of comfort knowing that many citizens in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan marched alongside the Pakistani transgender community to fight for their protection and their rights.

And so today, I recall words of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:

It is by insisting on the dignity and worth of every human being, and securing their rights ... that we will ... build an abiding peace.