Hijra for translations, see [n 1] is a term used in South Asia — particularly in India and Pakistan — to refer to trans women male-to-female transgender individuals. In Pakistan and Bangladesh, the hijras are officially recognized as third gender by the government,[4][5] being neither completely male nor female.
In India also, transgender people have been given the status of third gender and are protected as per the law despite the social ostracism. Hijras have a recorded history in the Indian subcontinent from antiquity onwards as suggested by the Kama Sutra period. This history features a number of well-known roles within subcontinental cultures, part gender-liminal, part spiritual and part survival. In South Asia, many hijras live in well-defined and organised all-hijra communities, led by a guru.
The word "hijra" is an Urdu word derived from the Semitic Arabic root hjr in its sense of "leaving one's tribe,"[12] and has been borrowed into Hindi. The Indian usage has traditionally been translated into English as "eunuch" or "hermaphrodite," where "the irregularity of the male genitalia is central to the definition. Since the late 20th century, some hijra activists and Western non-government organizations NGOs have lobbied for official recognition of the hijra as a kind of "third sex" or "third gender," as neither man nor woman.
Nepal, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh have all legally recognized the existence of a third gender, including on passports and other official documents. This term is generally considered derogatory in Urdu and the word Khwaja Sara is used instead. A number of terms across the culturally and linguistically diverse Indian subcontinent represent similar sex or gender categories.
While these are rough synonyms, they may be better understood as separate identities due to regional cultural differences. In South India, the goddess Renuka is believed to have the power to change one's sex. Male devotees in female clothing are known as Jogappa. They perform similar roles to hijra, such as dancing and singing at birth ceremonies and weddings.
