Third sex candidate in fray

A member of Pakistan's transgender community is to contest upcoming general elections on a ticket of equal rights, saying the community has more to offer than begging or dancing at weddings.

A member of Pakistan's transgender community is to contest upcoming general elections on a ticket of equal rights, saying the community has more to offer than begging or dancing at weddings.

The elections, due by mid-May, will mark the first democratic transition of power after an elected government's full term in Pakistan's 65-year history. It will also be the first time Pakistan's estimated 500,000 "eunuchs" are eligible to seek office, after the Supreme Court in 2011 ordered the government to issue them with identity cards and to register them as voters.

In Pakistan, word "eunuch" is also used to refer to hermaphrodites, transsexuals, transvestites and homosexuals in addition to castrated men.