Soheli Akter, 29, a transgender, was born as a boy in Austagram upazila of Kishoreganj district. But her identity and sexuality were in turmoil when he reached the adolescence. She was in confusion whether she is a boy or not.
She would like to wear female dresses. A female soul was sleeping in her mind. And she took the name 'Soheli Akter' instead of Sohel Mir.
Since then, she is living openly as a hijra. Primarily, Soheli lived at his native village. One day some transgender people came to her village and found her. They said that they learnt Soheli lives here and they wanted to take her to the town.
At first, she was confused, but later joined the team and came to Dhaka. "My relatives and neighbors used to questioned my mother that why your son walks and behaves like a girl? My mother got ashamed and told them "only Allah (God) knows the matter. I can't understand what is going to him," Soheli said. Soheli, currently lives in capital's Uttara, said she is very happy with her present life.
But sometimes she feels insulted as people neglect her as a transgender. "Nature has made me a transgender. What is my fault in this?, she questioned.
But Soheli hopes that a one day people will respect all transgender people in the country and will cooperate them with loving mind. The transgender people living with her said she goes to her native village occasionally. And whenever she goes to her village, her relatives tease her as she is living with transgender people in Dhaka. "I am extremely
shocked at the matter as they are my relatives and villagers. But I hope they will understand me one day." Transgender people (hijras) have long been suffering discrimination, when most of the people labeled them 'a public nuisance' and tried to eradicate them. It is mentionable, in November 2013, , in a landmark decision, the government formulated laws to recognize hijras as a third gender, allowing them to identify themselves as a separate gender in passports and other documents.
According to government data, there are around 15,000 transgender people (hijras) in the country. But rights groups say the number of hijras in the country is around half a million.
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