Bangladesh Removes LGBTQ Schoolbooks Following Protests

The decision to remove the books was made "due to various complaints and to lessen the reading load on pupils.

on Feb 13, 2023

Following protests from Islamist organizations upset with a curriculum revision to recognize transgender identities, same-sex couples, and secular science, Bangladesh said on Saturday that it had withdrawn two new school textbooks.

Since last month, tens of thousands of people have protested in the capital city of Dhaka, calling on the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) to reverse the revisions made to the texts written for students in aged 11 through 13.

The narrative of a young boy named Sharif who transitions, adopts the female name Sharifa, and moves in with other transgender persons is told in one chapter of the new history and social science book.

According to the government-run NCTB, the decision to remove the books was made "due to various complaints and to lessen the reading load on pupils."

According to spokesperson Mohammad Mashiuzzaman, "Many schools in our rural regions don't have the resources to deliver lessons from these books, and the contents are a little hefty."

"The substance of the novels is a topic of discussion as well. So that the problem wouldn't be politicized, we chose to remove them for the time being."

The Bangladeshi government made it legal for persons to identify as belonging to a third gender in 2014. It has recently expanded the rights of "hijras" in the housing and higher education sectors.

They have even been recognized as mainstream Muslims in the nation by several Islamic leaders. Local elections have been run by and won by several trans persons.

However, the Nation's about 1.5 million transgender citizens still experience prejudice and violence, and they are frequently compelled to engage in begging or the sex trade to make ends meet.

The NCTB will also change the text of two more works, according to Mashiuzzaman. He was referring to novels that Islamist organizations had accused of "promoting homosexuality," "distorting Bangladeshi history," and "critiquing the custom of Muslim women wearing veils."

Charles Darwin, a British naturalist, developed the evolutionary theory, featured in one of the books that were pulled. Islamist organizations were outraged by the book and asked that it be removed from the curriculum, calling it harmful.