Research Paper

on

People’s Attitude towards Transgender People

Khondker Sakib Mehedi

Eng105.10 ID: 1330416030

Submitted to: Mehedi Hasan

December 8, 2015
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank all the people who were involved and supported me to finish this
research paper. My utmost gratitude to the people who participated in the survey and the
interview. I would also like to thank Md. Nabiar Hossain, Leo Rahman and Noor A Alam
Shahariar without whom I would not have been able to gather the necessary data. Finally, I
would like to express my deepest appreciation to our faculty, Mehedi Hasan who have guided me
throughout the whole process.
 ABSTRACT

The main objective of my research paper ‘People’s attitude towards transgender people’ is
to find out the reasons of social exclusion of transgender people. The paper exclusively discusses
how people behave towards transgender people and also how transgender people evaluate this
attitude towards them and also how are they affected by it. The general people also feels that the
transgender people should be given basic rights of a citizen of the country however there is little
being done to provide equality and the government should become more proactive to secure the
transgender community’s rights.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………..1

2. BACKGROUND………………………………………………………………………3

3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS……………………………………………………………4

4. HYPOTHESIS…………………………………………………………………………5

5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY………………………………………………………6

6. DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS…………………………………………7

7. SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS……………………………………………16

8. LIMITATIONS………………………………………………………………………...17

9. RECOMMENDATIONS………………………………………………………………17

10. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………….18

11. REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………..19
 INTRODUCTION

To understand transgender people, first of all we have to understand the term ‘gender
identity’. Gender identity refers to a person’s innermost conception of oneself as a male, female,
both or none (GLAAD, n.d., p.1). The problem that transgender people have to face is that the
sex that they were given at birth do not match their own gender identity. They usually follow a
transition from one gender to the other, as for example, if a person is identified as a male at the
time of birth but later on it is seen that the person exhibits more feminine characteristics and vice
versa. Therefore most transgender people often try to adjust their body or attitude that fits better
with their gender identity. In many cases transgender people use prescribed hormones by doctors
to change their bodies and some undergo surgeries but they do not necessarily have to go through
these steps as they can simply use their attitude and behavior to connect more closely with their
gender identity (GLAAD, n.d., p.1).

We often confuse ourselves with the terms gender identity and sexual orientation. The
acronym LGBT is used to describe the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Here,
the term ‘LGB’ is used to describe the sexual orientation of the person which means to which sex
that person is attracted to emotionally or physically and based on that the person can be
identified as being straight or not. Whereas the term ‘T’ describes a person’s gender identity
which is their own sense of being a male or a female. Transgender people also have a sexual
orientation which depends on how they identify themselves. For example a female who
transitions to male and is attracted to females only is a straight transgender person. On the other
hand, a female who transitions to male and is attracted to males is a gay transgender person
(GLAAD, n.d., p.1)

Gender is a very complex issue and whether we see it or not, it has a great impact on all our
lives. ‘Is it a boy or a girl?’ is a question all of us had to face at the time of our birth and since
then our upbringing, culture, society, media and religion had an immense amount of influence in

Page | 1
developing our understanding of this fundamental aspect of ourselves. Our society has assigned a
gender to almost everything, starting from toys and colors to clothing, behaviors and even
occupations. In French, all inanimate objects are referred to using the pronouns he or she. The
society’s constant need to label everything in the male or female category has led to a very
confusing situation for the transgender people.

Since transgender people do not conform to the traditional male or female category and also
due to people’s lack of understanding, the transgender community falls victim to many
discriminatory circumstances. In many countries they are not given the legal rights of any other
citizen, They constantly have to face troubles filling out forms or going to restrooms in public
places because they do not seem to account for their existence. Therefore it is very important to
investigate people’s attitude towards transgender people.

Page | 2
 BACKGROUND

Khan et al. (2009) said that the transgender community is known differently in different
cultural context. For example, they are known as bokla in the Philippines, xaniths in Oman and
as hijra, jogappas, jogtas or shiv-shaktis in South Asia. In the Indian sub-continent, they are
more commonly called the third gender or eunuch-transvestites (pp. 441-451). For many
centuries, they have served as entertainers in Western and Southern Asian societies until the late
1800s when the British passed the law which criminalized them and forced them out of the
society (Bandhu Social Welfare Society, n.d.).

The South Asian history has described them as semi sacred people. In some rural
communities and in Old Dhaka, they bless the newlyweds and newborns through singing and
dancing for which they are paid in cash or given food (Bandhu Social Welfare Society, n.d.).
However, many of them can be seen begging on the streets and occasionally compelling people
to give them money which is sometimes called chadabazi. They have to submit a certain
percentage of the money collected to their leader who they refer to as Guru Ma. Few of them are
also involved in prostitution. There are many cases of brutal violence against transgender people.
They have to face extreme discrimination in terms of health care services, education,
employment and other areas as well.

The official population count of the transgender community is 10,000 but most of them
have not been accounted for in in the census. As a result, the expected estimate population of the
transgender community is between 396,000 to 7.92 million nationally (Newman, 2014).
Therefore neglecting these people could have a severe impact on the society. However, in
November 2013, policy decision has been made by the government to recognize the transgender
community as the third gender. As a result transgender people have been given their right to

Page | 3
identify themselves as hijra on personal documents such as their passports and national ID card
and they have also been given voting previliges.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In my research I plan to investigate the extent and reasons for the social exclusion of
transgender people. The negligence of transgender people could have severe adverse impact on
our society and for that reason, I decided to investigate how people actually treat them. My
research will address the following questions:

 To what extent do people accept the transgender people?

 Why people do not want to accept the transgender people?
 In which situation would people accept the transgender people?
 How are the transgender people being exploited?
 How do the transgender people evaluate the attitude towards them?
 Is there anything being done to provide equality?

Page | 4
 HYPOTHESIS

My research is driven by the hypothesis that people do not want to accept transgender
people in the society. I have made this assumption on the basis of how I usually see the
transgender people being treated on the streets and also from people’s general opinion about
them.

From my research, I expect to find that most often, transgender people are neglected by the
society. Since most Bangladeshi people have a conservative attitude, I think many people will
not be willing to accept transgender people as their friend, family or even be near them in
workplaces. I also think that most people had bad experiences with transgender people. I also
expect to find that the transgender people probably feels very neglected and hence do not find the
encouragement to make an effort to get accepted by the society.

Page | 5
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The primary research was carried out on the general public of Dhaka as well as transgender
people. A survey and interview was conducted on the general public to know about their opinion
and behavioral pattern towards transgender people. Another survey and interview was conducted
on transgender people to take into account their thoughts and feelings about the society’s attitude
towards them.

For my secondary research, I have collected information through library resources and also
consulted books, newspapers and journals to get the necessary information. I have also browsed
the web for information and used standard search engine like Google Scholar.

Page | 6
 DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

In order to collect sufficient data about people’s attitude towards transgender people, I have
conducted a survey questioning about the various aspects of my topic. People’s answers to the
survey questions will help me reach a conclusion about my research topic. The questions were
completed by 39 general people and the sample was also balanced, which means it was equally
distributed in terms of gender and different age groups. Another part of my research was
addressed towards transgender people and it was completed by 5 transgender people and they
would more or less represent their whole community. The data collected form their responses is
presented and analyzed below.

In the first part of my data presentation and analysis I would like to show the extent to
which transgender people are accepted in the society. The data collected shows whether the
general people would accept transgender people as their friend, family member, colleague,
superior and how they behave with them in public places. The data also presents the point of

Page | 7
view of the transgender people and the pie charts representing the data are given below.

Would you accept a transgender person as your friend?

Yes No

38%

62%

Figure 1: Would you accept a transgender person as your friend?

Page | 8
 Would you accept ACCEPT A TRNSGENDER PERSON AS YOUR FAMILY
MEMBER?
Yes No

44%

56%

Figure 2: Would you accept a transgender person as your family member?

Would you accept a transgender person as your colleague or superior?

As a colleague only As a superior only
As both As none

8%
26%

3%

64%

Figure 3: Would you a transgender person as your colleague or superior?

Page | 9
 The responses from Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3 shows much unexpected results. 62%
people said that they would accept transgender people as their friend, 56% said that they would
accept transgender people as their family member and 64% people would accept transgender
people as both, their colleague as well as their superior in the workplace. In all the scenarios,
more than 50% of the people are willing to accept transgender people. This suggests that the
society’s mindset is probably changing and people are willing to accept them and not
discriminate against them. Although, around 30% of the people would not be able to accept them
as superiors in the workplace.

The next question will show how the general population actually behave with transgender
people in public places and this will give a clearer picture whether they are being treated
properly or not.

How do you behave with transgender people in public places?

Stay away from them Ignore them
Talk to them Treat them like any other person

36% 38%

5%
21%

Figure 4: How do you behave with transgender people in public places such as bus,

train, shopping malls, Bazaars, parks, cinema halls, etc.?

Page | 10
 Figure 4 shows that 38% of the general people stay away from transgender people and 21%
people ignore them. Therefore, almost 60% of the people usually tends to show a negative
attitude towards transgender people and that is probably due to their fear of getting harassed by
them. However, the other 40% people has a friendly attitude towards them.

Hussain (2015) expresses her disappointment over the brutal violence against transgender
people in public places, police stations, prisons and their homes. From secondary research it can
be seen that people’s negative attitude towards transgender people does not stop at just ignoring
or staying away from them but goes as far as deliberately inflicting pain on them.

To find out the acceptance of transgender people in the society, I asked them whether they
received some education, has access to health care services and whether they are given the
opportunity to work. All of them answered that they did go to school and they receive health care
from the foundations they are part of such as Bandhu Welfare Society, Badhan Foundation.
However, none of them have been given the opportunity to work.

Again, evaluating other sources of information shows a different picture. Reports show that
doctors are scared of being associated with hijras, as a result transgender people do not receive
proper health care (FHI 360, 2011, p. 11). In another source, which was an interview on
YouTube with a transgender person in which she said that she could not continue with her
education due to social pressures (C. Rahman, personal communication, November 1, 2016).
Evaluating both primary and secondary sources, it can be seen that transgender people are not
well accepted in the society.

The next question will address to the reasons why people do not want to accept transgender
people and they are discussed below.

Page | 11
 What do you think is the reason that transgender people are not accepted?
Physical appearance Behavior Socioeconomic status
Society's mindset Others

2% 8%

40%

40%

10%

Figure 5: What do think is the reason that transgender people are not accepted?

It can be seen from Figure 5 that 40% of the people thinks that the reason for the social
exclusion of transgender people is due to the society’s mindset because people in Bangladesh
have very conservative nature. Another 40% people think that they are not accepted is because of
their behavior and the way they ask for money is not acceptable by the society.

My next question will try to find out what will lead the people to accept transgender people.

Page | 12
 in which situation would you accept transgender people?
Behave properly Improve socioeconomic status
I accept them I will not accept them

2%
17%

7%

73%

Figure 6: In which situation would you accept transgender people?

Since many people answered that the transgender people are not accepted because of their
behavior so as expected, most of the people which is 73% said that they would accept them if
they behaved properly. On the other hand few people which is 17% already accepts them in their
current situation.

The next part of my survey addresses transgender people and how they might have abused
or exploited.

Page | 13
 have you ever been verbally abused?
Yes No

20%

80%

Figure 7: Have you ever been verbally abused?

Have you ever been physically abused?

Yes No

20%

80%

Figure 8: Have you ever been physically abused?

Figure 7 shows that 80% of transgender people are verbally abused while Figure 8 shows
that 20% of transgender people are physically abused. Although my research shows that
transgender people are not sexually exploited but we can know for certain from other sources

Page | 14
that they in fact, are exposed to sexual exploitation. Khan et al. (2009) said that most transgender
people had their first sexual intercourse experience at the age 8 to 12 years and it was by force.
There are also others who are involved in prostitution which is a form of sexual exploitation.
Verbally abusive behavior against transgender people is very common and they are also
subjected to physical and sexual exploitation.

After evaluating different aspects of the research, I will now try to find out how transgender
people evaluate this.

Why do you think that people treat you diff erently?

Physical appearance Treated like others

20%

80%

Figure 9: Why do you think that people treat you differently?

It is obvious that they feel bad about their situation and 80% of them think that they are
treated differently because of their physical appearance. They get depressed about being born
this way.

The final question that I addressed to both the general people and transgender people is that,
if there is anything being done to provide equality.

Page | 15
 Do you think something is being done to provide equality?
Yes No Yes, but not sufficient

13%

54%
33%

Figure 10: Do you think something is being done to provide equality?

Figure 10 shows that 54% of general people thinks that there are steps taken to provide
equality but those are not sufficient which is very true. Most of them also thinks that the
initiative should be taken by the government and it should also come from individual awareness.
Transgender people thinks that most of the media speaks on their behalf and the organizations
they are part of protects their rights. The organizations hold rallies, seminars and programs that
speaks for their rights.

The government had plans to recruit transgender people as traffic officers and the central
bank also instructed financial institutions to spend a portion of their social responsibility fund on
the transgender community (Anam, 2015). However its effects have not taken place yet and the
transgender community feels that the government should take better measures to improve their
situation.

Page | 16
 SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS

The primary data that I have collected shows that people are willing to accept transgender
people as their friends, family member and even as their colleague and superior in the workplace.
Although this suggests that transgender people are accepted in the society, however, most of
those people also said that in reality they tend to stay away or ignore transgender people in
public places. Hence the result of my primary research is contradictory when I take the general
people’s opinion into account but we can also see that transgender people are verbally and
physically abused.

Taking secondary sources into account gives us a much clearer picture. We can see that
transgender people are severely discriminated against and they are also denied basic rights of a
human being. Majority of the people think that they should be given equal rights.

Transgender people also has emotions that most of us do not seem to have any regard for.
Therefore taking everything into account, it is with deep regret that I have to conclude that my
hypothesis is correct and people still do not want to accept transgender people as part of the
society.

Page | 17
 LIMITATIONS

While conducting my research I had to face certain limitations which were barriers to
getting accurate information about the topic. The limitations are as follows:

 More number of transgender people were required to get more accurate information.
 I was unable to find transgender people who were exposed to much severe abusive
behavior hence, my primary research lacked some crucial information.
 The general people who participated in the survey had to give their names and hence they
might have refrained from giving their actual opinion about transgender people.
 The timeframe was a big factor and the research could have been more informative and
accurate if more time was allocated to conduct my research.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The primary and secondary research confirms that the transgender community in our
country is severely discriminated against. Our negligence clearly reflects how far the human race
still has to go. We have developed economically and also in terms of technology but our human
side has a lot of space to grow and we should show compassion for people who have to go
through hardships. Therefore I would urge the government to take necessary steps such as
providing employment, security of life and other basic rights to transgender people so that they
can live their lives with dignity. Each of us also has to fulfill our individual responsibility
towards our country and our society so that no one has suffer as much as these people have.
Awareness should be raised from schools and homes so that people learn to understand what the
transgender people have to go through. It is also highly recommended that the transgender

Page | 18
people also find other methods of earning to remove the stigma that surrounds them in our
society.

CONCLUSION

The aim of this paper was to find out people’s attitude towards transgender people. This
whole research paper has showed me how misunderstood the transgender people are in our
society. Although this is a controversial topic but I found out that different people have different
opinion or attitude towards transgender people and they in turn react to that in different ways.
However, all of us need to realize that neglecting them has a negative impact on our society and
we need to unite together to stand against this.

Page | 19
 REFERENCES

 GLAAD. (n.d.) Transgender FAQ.

 Khan, S.I., Hussain, M. I., Parveen, S., Bhuiyan, M. I., Gourab, G., Sarker, G. F., . . . Sikder,
J. (2009) Living on the Extreme Margin: Social Exclusion of the Transgender
Population (Hijra) In Bangladesh. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition.
Retrieved December 2, 2016, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 Bandhu Social Welfare Society. (n.d.) Hijra Pride 2014.

 Newman, M. S. (2014, January 15). Beyond Hijra: Recognition for Transgender
Bangladeshis. Bdnews24. Retrieved December 1, 2016, from
http://opinion.bdnews24.com

 Hussain, F. (2015, January 8). Ensure rights of the third gender. Dhaka Tribune, p.7.
 FHI 360. (2011). Exploring gender based violence among men who have sex with men,
male sex workers and transgender communities.

 Anam, T. (2015, July 2). Transgender rights, Bangladesh style. The New York Times.

Page | 20