Bangladesh gets its first transgender TV News Anchor and hopes to help society change!
(Photo: Boishakhi TV)
It was a proud moment for the transgender community all over the world when Tashnuva Anan Shishir read the news bulletin on Boishakhi TV at 4 pm. She debuted on the occasion of International Women’s Day (March 8) with her flawless presentation. Not every day do we hear of such acts of bravery. “This could be revolutionary and create a new dimension in people’s thinking”, she said while on air. Cheer erupted in the news channel station as she finished her three-minute bulletin. She couldn’t hold back her tears while her colleagues applauded her in the background and rushed in to console her.
(Photograph: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Image)
Shishir is an ace performer who is also into acting and modeling. “I tried to think of stage dramas I have performed in and follow techniques I have learned there. But I was shaking inside”, she says as quoted to AFP. She was selected through an audition. Before making her debut, Shishir underwent several weeks of training in the organization. She had approached many TV channels but only Boishakhi TV was brave enough to take her in.
This was the news channel’s step to promote inclusivity and is hoping that Shishir’s appointment will help change the society.”I hope that this will bring greater acceptance and change the way people view the transgender community,” said Tipu Alam, Boishakhi TV’s chief editor, as quoted to Reuters. Alam believes that we need to find ways to help the transgender community to move forward, not leave them behind and accept them unconditionally. It’s people like Alam with progressive outlooks who make it possible to incite change and uphold gender equality. And the colleagues that support Shishir at all times are live examples that there is a potential for change.
She was born Kamal Hossain Shishir. As a teenager, Shishir was sexually exploited and abused. She was a woman trapped in the body of a man. It became impossible for her to endure, and she even tried to commit suicide. Her family was not on her side as they felt she was bringing dishonor to the family, and her father stopped talking to her. She left home at 16 and moved to Dhaka. She made her way against all odds. She was able to continue her studies, underwent hormone therapy, worked for charities, and performed in a local theatre. Things are taking a turn for Shishir now. Earlier this year, she received a scholarship at James P Grant School of Public Health in Dhaka to pursue her Master’s in Public health. She has also signed two films, and will be playing the role of a female football coach in one of them.
(Photograph: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images)
Bangladesh officially recognized transgender as a separate gender in 2013. There are around 1.5 million transgender people across the country who continue to live on the sidelines. They are isolated from society and subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation. They survive by begging and have to do sex trade. The lack of awareness among the general population has led to the formation of a negative image about the community. Consequently, they get employment opportunities. But the country is slowly making changes in the right direction. They were given the right to vote in 2018, and last year November, a charity group opened Bangladesh’s first Islamic school for the transgender community. Not only Bangladesh, but many countries and cultures are still critical of the transgender and even the queer community.
Shishir’s debut on TV drew mixed reactions from the public. While many applauded her courage and media outlets all over the world wrote about her, others criticized her harshly. She doesn’t blame such people and knows it is all because of the knowledge gap. Nevertheless, she has brought visibility to the transgender community in Bangladesh, and we hope it inspires others to come forward and embrace their identities. She wants to erase the negative image that has been building up for years now.
Shishir is trying to bridge the gap and make it better for other transgender people. She gave them representation on national television and became their voice. She wants them to be treated equally, find employment and live their lives with dignity like regular people do. We at Fuzia always appreciate people who come forward not only for themselves but for their community.
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Originally published at https://www.fuzia.com.