The Biden administration is offering a $500,000 grant to English language teachersin Pakistan for “intensive professional development courses for Pakistani transgender youth.”
According to the State Department grant, it will teach English language skills to Pakistani transgender youth so they “better participate in the global community and prepare them for success in the workplace.”
The grant report aims to focus on three components:
(1) Professional Development for English Language Teachers from Non-Mainstream Institutions
(2) Professional Development for novice Pakistani English language teachers
(3) Professional Development for Transgender Youth and for Afghan Teachers, Students, and Young Professionals Residing in Pakistan.”
As Fox News reported:
The program component that includes a focus on transgender youth accepts proposals from applicants “for a minimum of $25,000 and a maximum of $75,000 to implement: (1) intensive professional development courses for Pakistani transgender youth from the ages of 13-25, and (2) and intensive professional development courses for Afghan teachers, students, and young professionals residing in Pakistan.”
The components aim to improve English language communication skills and connect trainees to a professional alumni network.
Teachers participating in the program will “share what they learned in these training with English-language professional colleagues, thereby influencing pedagogy in their schools and communities.”
Applicants to the Biden grant program are encouraged to address, “What is the most effective way to reach the greatest number of Pakistani transgender youth and Afghan teachers, students, and young professionals from diverse locations across Pakistan?”
A spokesperson for the State Department said the education project from the agency focuses on transgender youth like it does with other “marginalized communities.”
However, the spokesperson added that the grant funds won’t be used for gender transitions.
“In this specific grant, the Department provides funding for English-language learning, an integral skill that helps unlock educational and employability opportunities, for marginalized communities, in this case, transgender youth,” the spokesperson said.
The State Department’s human rights report praises Pakistan’s 2018 Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Act.
According to the report, the Pakistan police should prioritize ways to prevent violence against transgender people.
The report also notes public venues in Pakistan were less likely to host “transgender events” than “religiously based anti-LGBTQI+ protests.”
READ: Whoopi Goldberg Suggests the Bible Supports Medically Transitioning Kids
