Justice and Equality for LGBTQ+ people in Bangladesh

Dear Sheikh Hasina,

Xulhaz Mannan, the editor and founder of Bangladesh’s only LGBTQ+ magazine Roopban, and one of the most vocal advocates of LGBTQ+ rights in the region, and his friend and fellow LGBTQ+ activist, Tonoy Mahbub, were brutally hacked to death on 25 April 2016. These unconscionable crimes must not go unchallenged. Their deaths are part of wider persecution of the LGBTQ+ community in Bangladesh.

Section 377 of the Penal Code, which was introduced under British imperial rule in 1860, criminalises all forms of non-heterosexual intimacy with prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life. Although the wording of the law is aimed directly at sodomy regardless of gender, the conflation of sexual unorthodoxy (considered deviant) with sexuality over the decades has ingrained homophobia as a norm into society. Section 377 is used to prosecute people based on an inherent part of their identity. Additionally, the fear of being jailed has led to an exploitative relationship wherein LGBTQ+ individuals do not come forward to make use of other rights.

Xulhaz, Tonoy and other activists are on record as having stated they do not go to the police because they are not afforded protection due to the prejudice linked with Section 377. Testimonials collected by academic Sumit Baudh refer to social harassment, extortionate rent practices, sexual abuse, and negligent healthcare stemming from discrimination. None of these can be officially reported until Section 377 and the associated stigma is overturned.

Furthermore, rising Islamism – which has seen the targeted assassination of secular activists and intellectuals, academics, moderate Muslims, foreigners, Shias, Hindus and Christians – has become endemic in the nation, and has seen the LGBTQ+ community targeted as the fundamentalists broaden those they are denouncing and killing in the name of their ideology. The argument goes that non-heteronormativity and non-heterosexuality are against Islam. This is supported by blasphemy laws enshrined in the Penal Code of 1860. The government is appeasing the extremists in the Muslim-majority country, while the political opposition continues to fan the flames of Islamism, with both seeing political benefit in the potency of this dangerous ideology.

In the spirit of Xulhaz and Tonoy’s activism, and the rights of the wider community, we therefore come to you with four demands:

1. We call on you to repeal Section 377 and decriminalise same-sex intimacy, and actively work to reduce the stigma against the LGBTQ+ community. The ruling is archaic and based on an imported and forced value system. As a statute that stems from a specific Victorian Christian interpretation of the law, it goes against both the secular constitution and the state religion of Islam of the country. It reduces an entire community to second-class citizens who continue to be discriminated against and abused by both civilians and officials. Bangladesh claims to be part of a global community and this should be reflected in its laws.

2. We urge you to repeal Section 295 of the Bangladeshi Penal Code as the blasphemy law is also used to pressurise and prosecute individuals in the LGBTQ+ community on charges of offending religious sentiment. The Muslim-majority demographic of the country cannot be used as a justification by extremists for imprisonment because that once again relegates an entire group of people to second-class citizenship. While open debate and discussion between conservative and liberal positions can be a positive force for change, systemically favouring one over the other is prejudicial and wrong. That this only works to strengthen an exploitation of a vulnerable minority by the majority makes the need to redress it all the more urgent.

3. We insist that there be a formal inquiry into Xulhaz’s and Tonoy’s deaths, with the perpetrators tracked down and prosecuted to the furthest extent of the law. Their sexuality should not be a deterrent to justice. If anything, the inexcusable inequity that underlines the brutal killings should be addressed with a thorough and unrestrained investigation and trial.

4. We demand that you introduce hate crime legislation to tackle ongoing prejudice and violence against communities that are being targeted for their beliefs and identities. Not only is it vital to decriminalise same-sex intimacy and repeal the blasphemy law, it is also necessary to create a system by which further acts of hatred perpetrated in the name of extremism and discrimination are held accountable.