A Bangladeshi satellite television station has hired the country’s first transgender news anchor, saying it hopes the appointment will help change society. Tashnuva Anan Shishir, who previously worked as a rights activist and actress, debuted on Dhaka-based Boishakhi TV on International Women’s Day on Monday. She read a three-minute news bulletin, and after finishing cried as her colleagues applauded and cheered, AP has reported.
Born Kamal Hossain Shishir, she said she found in her early teens that she was stuck in a man’s body and behaved like a woman. She said family members, relatives and neighbors started teasing her and she was bullied and sexually exploited.