A new TV channel in Pakistan is expected to give new visibility to the transgender community.

According to wire news agency Dispatch News Desk (DND), Abb Takk launched earlier this week, and is considered the only South Asian television channel willing to give a voice to the transgender community.

Abb Takk’s director of news and current affairs Nasir Baig Chugtai told DND that the channel will address not only ladies and gentlemen, but also ‘she-males’.

He said: ‘Transgender members need identity, and they must be accepted and respected as an important part of society.’

Chugtai is considered one of the pioneers of electronic media in Pakistan, serving as Executive Editor for Pakistani news channel Geo TV since 2002.

Co-hosted by Almas Bobby, founder of transgender rights organization Pakistani Shemale Association, the new channel will open up discussions about the LGBT community in Pakistan.

Bobby recently gave an interview with news source National Public Radio (NPR) on the selection of transgender individuals running for elections for the first time in Pakistan’s history.

Bobby told NPR: ‘If our people manage to reach assemblies, we will get a better treatment in society.’