A Bangladeshi satellite television station has hired the country's first transgender news anchor, saying it hopes the appointment will help change society.
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Born Kamal Hossain Shishir, Tashnuva Anan Shishir, who previously worked as a rights activist and actress, debuted on Dhaka-based Boishakhi TV on Monday, International Women's Day. She read a three-minute news bulletin, and after finishing cried as her colleagues applauded and cheered.
"I was very nervous, I was feeling so much emotional, but I had in my mind that I must overcome this ordeal, this final test," Shishir, 29, said in an interview Tuesday.
Bangladesh officially has more than 10,000 transgender people, but activists say the actual number is much higher in the nation of more than 160 million people. The LGBT community faces social isolation, sexual abuse and other forms of harassment. Finding employment is very difficult, and many live by begging or selling sex.
Since 2013, the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has allowed transgender people to identify themselves as a separate gender. They were given voting rights in 2018.
