Did U.S. President Joe Biden propose to pay English teachers $500,000 to educate students about transgenderism in Pakistan, in violation of Pakistani law? No, that's not true: This claim misconstrues a U.S. State Department grant aimed at funding English teaching programs in Pakistan. Moreover, transgenderism is not against the law in Pakistan - it's a legally protected attribute.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on May 8, 2023, under the title "You should know that homosexuality is punishable by death in Pakistan." The text read:
Week's craziest news. Biden proposed that English teachers go to Muslim Pakistan and teach the children about transgender people, and teach English at the same time. The volunteer teachers can expect to get support of $500,000 for themselves. And we recommend that they first insure their lives for a couple of million. The Pakistanis will not appreciate these kinds of initiatives.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri May 19 11:50:01 2023 UTC)
The claim mischaracterizes a grant opportunity administered by the U.S. Mission to Pakistan, that appeared on a U.S. government website on March 3, 2023. It announced an "open competition for assistance awards" for organizations interested in teaching English to young Pakistanis. One of the grant's three components is professional development for transgender youth and certain Afghan nationals residing in Pakistan. It did not mention educating pupils about transgenderism, as the TikTok video claims.
According to the tender document, the maximum budget for proposals covering all three components for up to three years was $500,000. That is not the amount prospective teachers can expect to receive, as the TikTok video claims. Bids for the component that focuses on teaching English to transgender youth were capped at $75,000, the document said.
(Source: Grants.gov screenshot taken on Fri May 19 13:17:59 2023 UTC)
The video also conflates "homosexuality" with "transgenderism." A Pakistani law that has been on the books since 1860 criminalizes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" and provides a punishment of a fine and/or imprisonment from two years to life. Under Sharia law, homosexual acts may be punishable by death in Pakistan, according to a 2022 analysis by the British Home Office.
Transgender Pakistanis, defined as "any person whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from the social norms and cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at the time of their birth," are protected under a 2018 law. The measure forbids discrimination against transgender people, including "the denial of, or discontinuation of, or unfair treatment in, educational institutions and services thereof."
