Transgender wins election in Bangladesh. Officials say a small town in Bangladesh has elected Bangladesh’s first transgender mayor after a 45-year-old independent candidate defeated her ruling party challenger in a landslide.
Nazrul Islam Ritu claimed her triumph demonstrated increased acceptance of the “Hijra” group, which includes people who were born male but do neither identify as men nor women.
“The glass ceiling is breaking. It is a good sign,” she said.
“The victory means they really love me and they have embraced me as their own,” she added. “I will dedicate my life to public service.”
Transgender wins election in Bangladesh. An estimated 1.5 million transgender persons living in the South Asian country, where they experience discrimination and abuse and are often forced to survive by begging or working in the sex trade.
Ritu, who uses both male and female pronouns, was born into a large Muslim family, but as a child, she escaped her rural homeland of Trilochanpur and sought safety at a transgender commune in Dhaka.
She returned in her late twenties and became a well-known figure in the community after assisting in the construction of two mosques and donating to several Hindu temples in the area.
After winning the election on Sunday with 9,557 votes, more than double her nearest challenger, she will now serve as the town’s mayor.
Ritu is the first “third gender” mayor in Bangladesh, the Muslim-majority country’s official term for transgender people.
“She won it fair and square. There were no reports of violence during the election, unlike some other towns,” local government administrator Jerin said.
Ritu said she would try to “eradicate corruption and uproot the drug menace” in her town of 40,000 people.
“I’m sure she can fulfill the promises she made to us because she has always been a philanthropist, helping people,” said Nurul Hossain, a voter in Ritu’s constituency.
Bangladesh’s rising tolerance for sexual minorities’ rights has resulted in a slew of new laws enacted under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Transgender persons were formally recognized as a separate gender in 2013, and in 2018, they were allowed to register to vote using the term “third gender.”
