It's important to decouple the Western idea of trans rights being the step after gay rights. Other nations and cultures have different ideas around gender.

In Iran, the state sanctions gender assignment because the Quran forbids homosexuality, but does not forbid gender reassignment. This a bit of a simplification, but basically the Shia school which dominates Iran believe that anything not forbidden in the Quran is permissible by default. So to 'solve' the problem of homosexuality, one of the partners must become a woman. It's not so much about transgender rights, because this means that cisgender men who have no interest in transitioning must also undergo sex reassignment or risk the penalty of death.

Pakistan, like the other Desi nations, have long had the concept of hijras - a kind of 'third gender' of feminine men. Men having sex with hijras is not seen as gay, because of the hijras blurring the line but also 'receiving' is what's considered gay, not 'giving'. Note that hijras are not exactly transgenderism because hijras are not trying to be women, nor is it culturally possible for them transition to being a 'proper' woman. Like with the Iran situation, some are cisgender homosexual men who are forced to live as hijras to avoid the stigma of homosexuality, though they can't avoid the stigma of being a hijra.

Trans rights in South Asia starts more from this angle of hijras, rather than from an expansion of the queer identity.