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Bangladesh's first transgender news presenter shines in debut broadcast

Bangladesh's first transgender news presenter shines in debut broadcast

Tashnuva Anan Shishir made her debut on Boishaki TV on Women's Day.
09 Mar, 2021

To cheers from colleagues, Bangladesh’s first transgender news presenter broke down in tears on Monday, but only after her word-perfect debut was beamed to the nation and the cameras were off.

Bangladesh is home to an estimated 1.5 million transgender people, who face rampant discrimination and violence and are often forced to live by begging, the sex trade or crime.

The experience of Tashnuva Anan Shishir, who delivered the three-minute news bulletin on the private Boishakhi TV, was typical.

Born Kamal Hossain Shishir, she discovered in her early teens she was trapped in a man’s body. She says she was sexually assaulted and bullied for years.

“The bullying was so unbearable I attempted suicide four times. My father stopped talking to me for years,” said Shishir, now aged 29.

“When I couldn’t cope with it any more, I left home... I couldn’t stand the neighbours telling my father about how I should act or walk in a masculine way.” She fled her home in a southern coastal district to live alone in the capital Dhaka, and then in the central city of Narayanganj.

There she underwent hormone therapy, took jobs working for charities and acted in theatres, all the while keeping up her studies.

In January she became the first transgender person to study for a master’s in public health at the James P Grant School of Public Health in Dhaka.

The LGBT community faces widespread discrimination in the South Asian country, with a colonial-era law still in place punishing gay sex with prison, though enforcement is rare. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government has since 2013 allowed trans people to be identified as a separate gender and in 2018 they were allowed to register to vote as a third gender.

Shishir’s broadcast on Monday coincided with International Women’s Day and follows a series of steps by public and private firms to overcome deep-seated prejudices against the community.

Julfikar Ali Manik, a spokesman for Boishakhi TV said the channel was determined to give Shishir a chance to shine despite the risk of backlash from some viewers in the conservative country. Her debut marked a “historic step,” he added.

Comments

Science to it Mar 09, 2021 11:12am
Good show. Hope for all the TG community
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MG Mar 09, 2021 11:23am
Congratulations lady
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Tea is Fantastic !!! Mar 09, 2021 11:38am
Excellent, TGs are are among us and they need to be treated equally as such.
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M. Emad Mar 09, 2021 11:51am
Bangladesh's Sheikh Hasina government recognised the widely discriminated transgender-LGBT people as a third gender in 2013 and has taken different schemes for Protection, Govt job, Loans, Education, Skill Development and Social Rehabilitation of transgender community.
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John Mar 09, 2021 11:55am
Is this allowed in pakistan?
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Browngirl Mar 09, 2021 11:55am
No mainstream Pakistani news channel has transgender newsreader, anchor or journalist.
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Malik Shahid Mar 09, 2021 12:14pm
Well done.
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Ali da Malanga Mar 09, 2021 12:15pm
Well done!
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AZAM AKBAR Mar 09, 2021 02:16pm
Good news.
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AZAM AKBAR Mar 09, 2021 02:17pm
@John Mr. John, " Is this allowed in Pakistan? " Don't you know this?
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M. Saeed Mar 09, 2021 03:07pm
@M. Emad , even Pakistan allows TG people equal rights. That is why you care so much to be here .instead of your own country's news-sites.
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M. Emad Mar 09, 2021 03:09pm
About 50 transgender people were murdered in Pakistan's KPK province in 2015-16.
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Pakistani in New Zealand Mar 09, 2021 03:22pm
Proud moment for all Bangladeshis.... I am sure.
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Ibrahim S Mar 09, 2021 05:17pm
@M. Saeed , you are absolutely right. All Minorities pray and live in Pakistan freely . It’s just a propaganda against Pakistan .
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Ibrahim S Mar 09, 2021 05:25pm
@M. Saeed here you go and advocate of Pakistan : So many hospitals refused to admit khawaja siras, so many doctors refused to treat us because we are out on the streets and carrying the virus.” “She urged the government to formulate a policy for transgender persons, including the implementation of a two per cent job quota for them.“
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LgbtqX Mar 09, 2021 05:49pm
Transgenders are the only hope for the survival of human species.
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People deserve better Mar 09, 2021 06:44pm
And in Pakistan transgender rights are only on papers. Shame PTI shame
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People deserve better Mar 09, 2021 07:05pm
In Pakistan thuggery and deception is allowed
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kp Mar 09, 2021 09:11pm
Bengali Quam was very liberal and intellectual till 16th century, i hope Bangladesh will revamp that image. good wishes keep going.
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M. Saeed Mar 10, 2021 02:01pm
@M. Emad , 5 is not about 50,
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