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Hijra (Southern Asia)

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(Redirected from Hijra (Indian subcontinent))

The first Hijra Pride-Flag as designed by its original author. The flag was created to represent the Hijra gender traditionally in south & south-east Asia, the symbolism being (sic) "pink nd blue are for those of us [hijras] who identify with binary genders as trans people, while the white is for those of us who are nonbinary, the red represents the divinity we were blessed with by Rama" (Father of Loh).

In the culture of South Asia, hijras are people who were born male who have a feminine gender identity and wear women's clothing. Hijras do not feel male or female. There are hijras in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The word 'hijra' is often translated into 'eunuch' or 'hermaphrodite'. Some hijras are eunuchs or hermaphrodites. Many are not.

Social status[edit]

A thriving community of hijras and transsexual people cross-dressed as females protest in Islamabad.

Hijras are discriminated against a lot. Many hijras do sex work because people will not give them jobs. Since November 2013, hijras in Bangladesh have been allowed to choose 'hijra' as a gender on their passports. Before this they had to choose 'male' or 'female'. Hijras have their own language called Hijra Farsi. It is also known as Koti.[1] In 2000, Shabnam Mausi was the first hijra to be elected into Indian parliament.[2]

References[edit]

  1. "Hijra Farsi: Secret language knits community - Times of India". Archived from the original on 2013-10-11. Retrieved 2013-12-13. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  2. webmaster (17 October 2013). "India's 'third gender': A marginalised social class". The Stream - Al Jazeera English.[permanent dead link]