by Kazi Nafia Rahman

She was on cloud nine when she secured a job at a private company after passing the higher secondary exam. Her contentment, however, was short-lived as Bobby, a transgender person, lost the job when her gender identity was disclosed. Bobby now makes a living as an alms seeker at Mogbazar Railgate.

“This is the hardest time for us. I know others are suffering during this epidemic but we have to suffer the most,” said Bobby.

A life already fraught with the struggle to attain dignity has been made all the more difficult for the country's transgender community by the coronavirus epidemic.

While alms typically form the basis of their livelihoods, the people of the third gender, who identify themselves as women in most cases, had been trying their hand at different jobs in order to gain economic independence when the coronavirus crisis emerged.

Beyond the ‘third gender’ categorisation, transgender activists in Bangladesh now refer to a ‘transgender umbrella’, that includes hijras, trans-men, trans-women, koti or cross-dressers and gender non-conforming or non-binary people.

Compelled to follow the social distancing measures, people from these marginalised groups consequently saw their earnings slide while some have lost their jobs.

“People of other identities under the transgender spectrum are extremely vulnerable. They are mostly excluded from government programmes or social media campaigns organised for the third gender community. They never receive the financial aid offered to transgender people. They are the minorities among the minority communities, who remain on the fringes of society,” said a queer rights activist known as 'Little Boxes'. “The government has an 11-point policy that entitles people of other gender identities to aid during the coronavirus. But they never received it.” Read more via BDNews