LGBTQIA + Group Analysis

History in all of its hundreds of thousands of years known to man tends to erase the stories of those not in control of their freedom. Whether it be the stories of slaves in the Americas, the ruthlessness of colonialism, there is always a group whose voice is not heard. In today’s society that group is the LGBTQIA+ group, specifically the T, or transgender for the purposes of this paper. Transgender or third gender communities have been a part of history in a variety of countries and cultures for thousands of years. From the balka people of the Phillipines, the two-spirit people of the American indigenous, and the sworn virgins of the Balkan Peninsula third genders have been a part of history all across the world. This paper will examine the Hijra of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, specifically their history, current standing as citizens, official recognition as a third gender, and how the Hijra compare to …show more content…
However, like Pakistan and Bangladesh, Hijra face high rates of discrimination and violence from all outlets including unrecognized marriages. No one knows the true number of Hijra living in India. Although the 2014 census only reported about 500,000 Hijra, there are speculations of anywhere from 500,000 to 6 million Hijra living in India. This low reported number is due to the discrimination faced when officially coming out. It is important to note that about 55,000 of the results came from parents reporting their child as transgender. This could be showing the possibility of a bright future for transgender Indian youth. At the current standing, there is a 46% literacy rate among Hijra compared to the national Indian average of 74% of the population. Hijra children usually drop out of school due to bullying from their peers and elders along with the banishment from the family that many of the children have faced.