Bangladesh moved a step further towards establishing a dedicated legal framework for transgender people in December 2023, weeks after details emerged of a 53-section draft law intended to protect their rights. On 5 December, officials announced that the draft of the proposed Transgender Persons’ Rights and Protection Act 2023 had been finalised and that the government intended to move forward with the legislation. The announcement marked a further stage in a process that had been underway through the Department of Social Services with the involvement of the Ministry of Social Welfare and the National Human Rights Commission. The proposed legislation was being developed to address longstanding legal and administrative barriers affecting transgender people, including questions of identity, inheritance, education, healthcare, employment and access to public services.

The latest development was announced at a workshop on the rights and social protection of transgender people held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center in Dhaka. Ministry of Social Welfare Secretary Md. Khairul Alam Sekh told the event that the draft legislation had been finalised and that the government planned to take the necessary steps towards its enactment. Officials said they hoped the legislation could be passed by December 2024 after going through the required government and parliamentary processes. The initiative was supported through work involving the Department of Social Services and the Asian Development Bank. At the time of the announcement, however, the proposal remained a draft: it had not been passed by parliament and therefore had not yet created legally enforceable rights.

Property and inheritance rights were among the significant issues addressed during the discussion. Transgender children could face exclusion from family property because existing inheritance arrangements and administrative practices did not adequately recognise their gender identities or circumstances. The proposed legislation sought to establish a clearer framework through which transgender people could exercise rights to family property and inheritance. The discussion formed part of a wider effort to address the consequences of legal and social exclusion, as transgender people could encounter difficulties not only in inheritance but also in obtaining identity documents, continuing education, accessing healthcare, entering employment and using other services available to citizens.

The December announcement followed earlier reporting in November that the Department of Social Services had prepared a 53-section draft in cooperation with the National Human Rights Commission. That earlier draft process had examined the practical difficulties transgender people experienced when their gender identities did not correspond with information recorded on birth registrations, national identity cards, passports or educational certificates. Officials had also discussed access to educational institutions and healthcare, property and inheritance rights, and arrangements for funeral rites according to a person’s religious beliefs. The development of the proposed law therefore sought to bring a range of issues that had previously been dealt with through fragmented administrative practices into a dedicated legal framework.

The initiative also reflected an effort to address the circumstances of transgender people beyond the existing state recognition of the Hijra community. Bangladesh had recognised Hijra people as a distinct gender category, but transgender people continued to encounter gaps between formal recognition, personal identity and the ability to exercise rights in practice. During the drafting process, officials had acknowledged that not all transgender people lived within traditional Hijra community structures and that many remained with their families, pursued education and sought employment within wider society. The proposed law was therefore being developed as a broader rights-protection framework rather than solely as an administrative recognition measure.

By 5 December 2023, the government had consequently progressed from preparing the proposed legislation to publicly announcing that its draft had been finalised, while identifying a prospective timeline for moving it through the legislative process. The proposal envisaged protections across several areas of life, with property and inheritance rights receiving particular attention in the December announcement. Despite that progress, the distinction between a finalised draft and an enacted law remained important: transgender people had not yet acquired the proposed protections through legislation, and further government and parliamentary action was still required before the framework could take legal effect.