LGBTQ history in Bangladesh
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During the British Period, Bangladesh was part of the Bengal Presidency where homosexuality was formally criminalized under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code in 1861. The Partition of India made East Bengal into East Pakistan – a Muslim majority nation where homosexuality remained taboo like the colonial era.
Like in the rest of South Asia, third gender communities such as the Hijra have been present since the pre-colonial times. These communities include transgender women, intersex peoples and eunuchs. While hijras have legal recognition in modern-day Bangladesh, they still face heavy discrimination.