Shahida vows to change society's perspective towards transgender community
A trans woman has been elected as a member of Maguraghona union parishad-6 in Khulna for the first time in the district, reports UNB.
Shahida Bibi, 43, has been elected as a member in second phase of UP elections on Thursday. Shahida contested in a reserved seat for women under ward no. 4, 5, and 6 of the union.
Shahida won by a huge margin of 2,740 votes competing against four female candidates with her symbol ‘Mike’.
Shahida, a resident of ward-6 of Dumuria upazila, has been living for a long time in this area after building her own house. Her father Abdur Razaque Morol is a resident of Dakkhin Chuknagar village.
An ecstatic Shahida vowed to change society's perspective towards the transgender community through her activities after winning. "I have contested in the poll to ensure the rights for people of our community which I'll try to attain with my utmost effort," Shahida said.
"People elected me for this position even though our community is neglected in the society. I'm indebted to all who voted for me," the UP member said.
Shahida also thanked the only transgender voter in the three reserved wards, Moni Mukta, for her constant support and another group of her community who came from different areas on the day of election to show their support.
When asked about future plans, Shahida said she wants to return the love she got from people by doing notable work for the locals.
A guideline was approved in 2013 at cabinet committee for granting transgender state recognition. Following that, in January, 2014, government issued a gazette granting state recognition to the transgender community.
In 2019, the Election Commission decided to enlist third gender as a gender identity in the voter list along with male and female.
Shortly afterwards, the country got its first transgender elected representative Pinki Khatun, a councillor in Kotchandpur, Jhenaidah district.