Tashnuva Anan Shishir made history as the first transgender anchor in Bangladesh. She fought long and hard for equality and acceptance, enduring harassment, bullying, and suicide attempts while struggling with her identity. After coming out as a transgender woman, she continued facing discrimination and lived in poverty. However, in March she achieved a breakthrough when she was hired as an anchor at a private television channel, becoming the first transgender person in Bangladesh to hold such a prominent media job. This triumphant moment came after many years of proving her existence and worth in society.

1. Stamford University Bangladesh
Department of Environmental Science
Teacher
Advocate Marufa Gulshan Ara
Visiting Faculty : DoES, SUB

3. Third gender
Third gender, or third sex, is a concept in
which individuals are categorized, either by
themselves or by society, as
neither man nor woman. It is also a social
category present in societies that recognize
three or more gender.

4. Third gender
• The hijras of India are one of the most recognized
groups of third gender people. Some western
commentators (Hines and Sanger) have theorized
that this could be a result of the Hindu belief
in reincarnation, in which gender, sex, and even
species can change from lifetime to lifetime,
perhaps allowing for a more fluid interpretation.
There are other cultures in which the third
gender is seen as an intermediate state of being
rather than as a movement from one
conventional sex to the other.

5. reincarnation
• Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is
the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical
essence of a living being begins a new life in a different
physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is
a similar process hypothesized by some religions, in which a
soul comes back to life in the same body. In most beliefs
involving reincarnation, the soul is seen as immortal and
the only thing that becomes perishable is the body. Upon
death, the soul becomes transmigrated into a new infant
(or animal) to live again. The term transmigration means
passing of soul from one body to another after-death.

6. • The word reincarnation derives from a Latin term that literally
means 'entering the flesh again'. Reincarnation refers to the belief
that an aspect of every human being (or all living beings in some
cultures) continues to exist after death. This aspect may be the soul
or mind or consciousness or something transcendent which is
reborn in an interconnected cycle of existence; the transmigration
belief varies by culture, and is envisioned to be in the form of a
newly born human being, or animal, or plant, or spirit, or as a being
in some other non-human realm of existence. Rebirth is a key
concept found in major Indian religions, and discussed using various
terms.
• Rebirth is a key concept found in major Indian religions, and
discussed using various terms. Reincarnation, or Punarjanman
(Sanskrit, 'rebirth, transmigration'),is discussed in the ancient
Sanskrit texts of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism,

7. History
• Mesopotamian civilization :
In Mesopotamian mythology , among the earliest written
records of humanity, there are references to types of people
who are not men and not women.
• Egyptian civilization:
Inscribed pottery shards from the Middle Kingdom of
Egypt (2000–1800 BCE), found near
ancient Thebes (now Luxor, Egypt), list three human
genders: tai (male), sḫt ("sekhet") and hmt (female)

8. • Indic culture civilization:
The two great Sanskrit epic poems, the Ramayana and
the Mahabharata, indicate the existence of a third gender in ancient
Indic society. Some versions of Ramayana tell that in one part of the
story, the hero Rama heads into exile in the forest. Halfway there, he
discovers that most of the people of his home town Ayodhya were
following him. He told them, "Men and women, turn back", and with
that, those who were "neither men nor women" did not know what to
do, so they stayed there. When Rama returned from exile years later,
he discovered them still there and blessed them, saying that there will
be a day when they, too, will have a share in ruling the world.
• In the Puranas, there are references to three kinds of devas of
music and dance: apsaras (female), gandharvas (male) and kinnars
(neuter).

9. Ardhanarishvara
• The Ardhanarishvara (Sanskrit: अर्धनारीश्वर,
Ardhanārīśwara) meaning "The Half-female
Lord", is a form of the Hindu deity Shiva
combined with his consort Parvati.
Ardhanarishvara is depicted as half-male and
half-female, equally split down the middle.
The right half is usually the male Shiva,
illustrating his traditional attributes.

10. Ardhanarishvara

11. Legal recognition
• Australia
• Canada
• India
• Nepal
• Pakistan
• Thailand
• England

12. Third in BD
• The government estimates there are 12629
rehijra in Bangladesh but rights groups say the
figure is closer to half a million.

13. Earning sources of Third gender
• Hijras mainly earn their livelihood through
collecting toll on public transport, streets,
markets or dancing at different social
functions.
• Extortion
• Begging
• Sex work

14. India income source
Like every caste in India, hijras are primarily associated with a
few traditional occupations, foremost among them being
ritualized performances at childbirth and marriage. The hijras'
performance consists of dancing and singing, accompanied by
a two-sided drum, and the blessing of the child or the married
couple in the name of the mother goddess. In return for these
blessings the hijras receive badhai, traditional gifts in cash and
goods, always including some sweets, cloth, and grains. Hijras
also beg in the streets for alms from passersby and from
shops; these activities are regulated on a daily rotational basis
by the elders of the hijra community. Although prostitution is
considered deviant within the hijra community, as it is in India
generally, many hijras earn a living from it.

15. • hijras sometimes dance in nonritual roles,
such as at stag parties, for college functions,
or in films. A small number of hijras also serve
the goddess Bahuchara at her major temple in
Gujarat, blessing visitors to the temple and
telling them the stories of the goddess in
exchange for a few coins.

16. How deprived or discriminated

17. Sector where third gender
are
discriminated
• Vaccine
• Lack of education
• Job
• Ignorance
• Elderly allowance
• Asset
• Legal right
• Un employment
• Open a bank account
• Driving licence
• Hospitalization or medical treatment
• Right to marry
• Not to attain politics
• Deprived of house
• Lake of social recognition

18. Transgender community left out of
vaccination programme
• Four people of the transgender community, commonly known as hijra, were
collecting money from vehicles in the capital’s Mouchak area at around 11:00am
on 1 August. One of them, Bithi Hijra, has a smartphone but does not know how to
register for the Covid vaccine. Many of the community are out of the vaccination
programme. They said they are willing to get vaccinated but facing many obstacles.
Upon talking with some people of the transgender community, it has been learnt
that various obstacles discourage them to take the vaccine. Fear to take the
vaccine, having no birth certificate or national identity (NID) card and the absence
of a separate category for hijras on Surokkha app are the main obstacles to get the
vaccine. There are 25 categories on the Surokkha app and website but not any for
hijras. Men and women can specify their gender on the vaccine registration app,
but there is no such chance for hijras to identify their gender. How can we take the
vaccine as we don’t have any recognition?” DGHS officials said they do not have
any plan to bring the hijras under the vaccine coverage as of now but they would
get priority in registration.

19. Executive member of Bangladesh Health
Watch and former director of IEDCR Jakir
Hossain said the hijras are highly susceptible to
the virus but they are neglected in the vaccine
programme.

20. BD Government
• On 11 November 2013, hijras were recognised as a
separate gender by the Bangladeshi Government in a
cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
Wazed.
• The government of Bangladesh announced the recognition
of a third gender by publishing the following
statement, “The Government of Bangladesh has recognised
the Hijra community of Bangladesh as a Hijra sex,”
• This was considered a huge step towards ensuring human
rights for the hijra community in Bangladesh. However,
despite the laudable policy action, there were no clear
guidelines on the qualifying characteristics of the third
gender, which led to mass ambiguity regarding the
understanding of hijras.

21. • The transgender community was granted the right to
vote under their own gender in 2019. They were
registered only as women or men on the national
voters' list previously. They can now identify
themselves as people of ‘hijra’ gender on passport and
NID cards. Although they were recognised by the state,
this community is still marginalised as most of them do
not have birth certificates, NID or passport. Shahnewaz
Shrabonti, a member of the transgender community
from the city’s Manda area, said she did not get the
vaccine despite having the NID card.

22. Bangladesh's first religious school for
transgender people has opened in Dhaka
• More than 150 students will study Islamic and vocational subjects free of charge at the
privately-funded seminary, or madrassa, in the capital.
• Many in the transgender community identify as a third gender which is now officially
recognised in the country.
• They have the right to vote and to stand for election, but conservative social attitudes still
make it hard for them to access jobs and education. Funding for the madrassa comes from a
foundation set up with money left by the late Ahmad Ferdous Bari Chowdhury, a
businessman who wanted to educate the hijra community.
• Until now there has been no school exclusively for transgender people in Bangladesh.
• People of any age in the hijra community can enroll at the school. It is hoped that after
studying there, students will have a chance to enter a number of different professions.
• "Whether or not someone is of the third sex is identified at a fairly mature age. That's why
we don't set any age limit. Anyone can be admitted here as soon as a transgender person is
identified, no matter what age they are," the madrassa's education and training secretary,
Mohammad Abdul Aziz Hussaini, told the BBC Bengali service.

23. Student (Hijra) opinion
• One new student at the school, Shilpy, said
most of the trans community were illiterate.
• "No one wants to hire us. If we had some
education, we could have worked somewhere
better. There is no education system.
• "That is why we still do what our ancestors did
and earn money by dancing and singing,"
Shilpy, whose name means "artist" in Bengali,
told the BBC.

24. ‘
We want to walk with dignity‘ shilpi
• Shilpy went to school until the age of nine, but dropped out because of bullying.
• "When I realised I was a transgender person, then everyone in the school hated
me, was afraid, criticised me.
• "That's why I didn't study any more. If there was a separate reading system for us,
no one would tease."
• In Bangladesh, hijras suffer from neglect in the family and socially, said Mr
Hussaini. "If a transgender child is born in a family, the parents often do not want
to accept them. What else will outsiders do? But they are not to blame.
• "We want them not to be a burden to the society. We decided to set up this
madrassa... so that they can learn the Koran and work with dignity."
• Shilpy welcomes initiatives - whether government or private - to spread education
among the third gender population.
• "We also want to be like other people, to walk with dignity. We also want to stand
on our own two feet. If I get a chance, I will go that way."
•

26. Transgender woman in Bangladesh:
'I'm not a burden to society'
• Ananya Banik, 42, was born a boy in the northern Mymensingh district of
Bangladesh. But as she approached adolescence, her identity and
sexuality were in turmoil.
• Since living openly as a hijra, or transgender person, at the age of 16,
she has found several good jobs, learned classical Indian dance, and
even performed on national TV to show the life of the hijra community.
• But it has been a difficult journey.
• "My relatives and neighbours used to ask my mother: Why does your
son walk and behave like a female?" says Ananya.
• Ananya felt like a girl trapped in a boy's body. She loved to dress up.
• "A female soul was dormant in my body and mind," she says.
• After an inner struggle, Ananya decided to live openly as a hijra, or
transgender person, at the age of 16.

27. • When she went public, her family became
desperate to remove her.
• "My family wanted to get rid of me because
they had to face a lot of unpleasant questions
from neighbours and relatives," says Ananya.
• Ananya's mother was the only person who
supported her but after her father died, her
brothers disowned her.

28. • Ananya says she was lucky to be able to stay with her family until
the age of 16 as many are banished from their homes at a much
younger age.
• Unsurprisingly, hijras remain one of the most marginalised groups
in Bangladesh despite being officially recognised as a third gender
in 2013.
• They held their first pride rally last year and continue to campaign
for better treatment.
• Many hijras live in slum areas and subsist on odd jobs.
• They are often turned down for work so many take to the streets
and demand money from roadside shopkeepers - using abusive
language if any shopkeeper refuses to pay money.
• Ananya says it is the only way they can eke out a living.
• "Many hijras are forced to collect money from shopkeepers. They
don't have any other way to earn money."

29. 'Victims of circumstance'
• Unlike other hijras, Ananya learned classical Indian
dance and traditional Bengali folk song.
• "I had the opportunity to showcase the life of the hijra
community for the first time on national television
station."
• She also worked for a variety of foreign non-
governmental organisations but even within this "so
called modern and educated setting", she says she
struggled to be accepted.
• "Many of my colleagues were uncomfortable around
me. They wouldn't sit me with me at lunch," she says.
• "They wouldn't get into the office lift if I was inside."

30. • There are few hijras who manage to get proper work like Ananya.
• Many fall into crime, furthering widening the gulf with the rest of society.
• "Hijras are victims of circumstance," says Ananya.
• "They are being used by different quarters for personal gains."
• But hijras have also been in the news for positive reasons.
• There have been a spate of violent murders in Bangladesh this year, including the
killing of five secular bloggers.
• In all but one case, the killers fled from the scene even though hundreds of people
were in the locality.
• But in one case, Labannya, a hijra, became a hero as she pinned down the
attackers.
• This is the only case where blogger killers have been identified and caught.
• After this incident, the government said it was considering hiring hijras to help
with Dhaka's chaotic traffic.
• Hijras believe they can contribute to society if proper support is given.
• "I dream of a society where hijras won't be discriminated against," says Ananya.
• "I'm a hijra but I'm not a burden to society."

31. Third gender who are doing great

33. ‘I Had to Prove That I Exist’: Transgender
Anchor Makes History in Bangladesh
• Tashnuva Anan Shishir’s triumphant moment came after a long fight for equality that
included harassment, bullying and suicide attempts.
• When Tashnuva Anan Shishir was growing up in a conservative Muslim family in Bangladesh,
she was ridiculed for behavior called too effeminate. She was often told she was mentally ill.
The experience left her with one crucial question: “Who am I?”
• “I was born with a male body, but I was matching a woman’s mind with soul,” Ms. Shishir said
in a recent video interview from Dhaka, the capital. “I had to prove that I exist in society.”
• The journey took her to the internet, where she searched, “Is there anyone like me?”
• Even after answering the question and coming out as a transgender woman, Ms. Shishir, 29,
waged a decades-long quest for acceptance. The path has been paved with “immeasurable
pain,” she said. She has endured harassment and verbal abuse, has been shunned by
members of her family and has lived in a slum while penniless.
Then, in March, three minutes of fame changed her life.
• She had been hired by the private television channel Boishakhi TV and read a news segment
for the first time on International Women’s Day. The appearance simultaneously vaulted her
into the living rooms of millions of her fellow Bangladeshis and onto the global stage as the
country’s first transgender news anchor.

34. FAMILY BACKGROUND (SHISHIR)
• Ms. Shishir was born in the district of Bagerhat into a family of four sisters and two brothers. Her
mother worked in the home while her father sold prawns and other saltwater fish. Shunned by her
father for her effeminate ways, Ms. Shishir said, she was seen as a disgrace to the family. As the
family business struggled financially, she was nudged out the door. If she stayed, her father said,
she would have to mask her femininity. He couThen, this year, she was told by a film director that
Boishakhi TV had plans for a new production and that she should apply. She was hesitant at first,
after facing rejection from other news channels. But Ms. Shishir ended up getting the role.
• In a statement, the television station, which hired her as a casual news anchor, said the “historic
initiative” would “inspire the society to change attitudes.”
• On Twitter, users said that her visibility was “inspirational” for young transgender people. Others
called it a “huge leap” for representation.
• Ms. Shishir isn’t content to stay on one stage. She had a part as a detective in a small Bangla film,
“Kosai,” and another is on the way. She is also a master’s student at Brac University, focusing on
public health. While she has yet to make amends with her father, she said, she speaks with her
mother and one of her siblings.
• In recalling the watershed moment when she spoke for three minutes on the airwaves, she said she
knew that the platform she had been given was huge. But she knows more needs to be done —
such as pushing the government to pass a transgender rights bill.
•

35. • Complicating matters, she faced an onslaught
of discrimination as she worked at various
nongovernmental organizations that were
reluctant to give her raises and promotions
because of her identity, she said. “I was
discriminated against for years,” she said. “I
also attempted suicide four times.”

36. Bobby
Indian transgender Artist

37. USA SENATOR

38. • Sarah McBride (born August 9, 1990) is an American
activist and politician who is a Democratic member of
the Delaware Senate since January 2021. She was
previously the National Press Secretary of the Human
Rights Campaign
• In 2018, McBride released the book Tomorrow Will Be
Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality.
• She is the first openly transgender state senator in the
country, making her the highest-ranking transgender
elected official in United States history.

39. What can we do for them?
• Free of education
• Job opportunity
• Equality
• Employment opportunity
• Some law must be made
• Medical facility
• campaigns

40. THANK YOU