Wearing bright saris and heavy make-up, many of Bangladesh’s transgenders, or hijras, spend their days begging from people stuck in traffic and shopkeepers who give them small change in exchange for lucky blessings.
The government recognised hijras as a third gender in 2013, but they remain marginalised in a country where sexual activity between people of the same sex is illegal. Many hijras live in abject poverty and have no opportunity for a proper education, much less a job. Many are forced to beg or engage in sex work to survive.
But on January 1, new textbooks were rolled out for millions of schoolchildren between the age of 11 and 13 featuring a segment on transgenders.
