Bangladesh moved towards establishing a dedicated legal framework for the protection of transgender people’s rights with the preparation of a 53-section draft law. According to a report published by The Daily Ittefaq on 11 November 2023, the Department of Social Services was developing the proposed legislation in cooperation with the National Human Rights Commission. The initiative was intended to bring the identities and rights of transgender people within a clearer legal framework while addressing barriers they faced in areas including education, healthcare, property and inheritance. Although Bangladesh had previously taken steps towards state recognition of the Hijra community, recognition by itself had not resolved the broader legal and administrative difficulties experienced by transgender people in establishing their identities, accessing services and exercising their rights. The proposed legislation therefore represented an attempt to move beyond recognition and create specific legal provisions addressing those difficulties.

A central issue behind the proposed law was the mismatch that transgender people could encounter between their gender identities and the information recorded in official documents. Administrative systems involving birth registration, national identity cards, passports, educational certificates and other records could create difficulties when a person’s documents did not correspond with their current identity. These problems extended beyond documentation itself because official identification is frequently required to access education, healthcare and other public services. The report noted that documentation barriers had also affected transgender people during the COVID-19 pandemic, including in accessing vaccination. The issue of legal recognition was therefore connected directly to whether transgender people could effectively access essential services and participate in public life.

The report illustrated these difficulties through the experience of transgender woman Taslima Yasmin Chaity. Her secondary school certificate continued to carry her former name, “Mamun Molla,” creating a discrepancy between her educational records and her current identity. As a result, she encountered difficulties when required to establish her identity in different circumstances. Such discrepancies could have consequences beyond a single document, affecting education, employment applications and access to government and private services. M. Rabiul Islam, Deputy Director of the National Human Rights Commission, also described legal and administrative challenges faced by transgender people in family life, education, healthcare and property rights. These experiences formed part of the broader context in which a dedicated legal framework was being considered.

The drafting process also considered differences between the circumstances of Hijra communities and those of other transgender people. Dr. Md. Moktar Hossain, Director of Social Security at the Department of Social Services, explained that not all transgender people lived within traditional Hijra community structures. Some wanted to remain with their families, continue their education, enter employment and live within wider society. Determining who would fall within the scope of the proposed legislation and how their rights would be recognised was therefore an important part of the drafting process. The proposed framework considered issues including inheritance and property rights, admission to educational institutions, access to healthcare and arrangements for a transgender person’s funeral in accordance with their religious beliefs.

University of Dhaka professor Robaet Ferdous also emphasised the need for a dedicated legal framework to protect transgender people whose identities and rights were not adequately accommodated within existing systems. The proposed legislation was intended to provide a clearer basis for addressing some of the legal and administrative barriers affecting transgender people and their ability to exercise rights available to other citizens. As of 11 November 2023, however, the 53-section proposal remained a draft law: it had not been enacted by parliament and was not yet in force. Further legislative processes would have been required before it could become law. Nevertheless, the preparation of the draft represented a formal initiative to bring issues including transgender people’s legal recognition, education, healthcare, property, inheritance and access to public services within a dedicated rights-protection framework.