Debunking the Myth That Hijra People Do Not Have "Real" Families
Introduction The myth that hijra people do not have "real" families and cannot create meaningful family structures persists across South Asian societies, including Bangladesh, where this third-gender community has existed for centuries. This belief, rooted in narrow, heteronormative definitions of family that privilege biological kinship, marriage, and binary gender roles, fundamentally misrepresents the complex kinship systems that hijra communities have developed to survive, thrive, and care for one another. This paper argues that hijra communities not only form families but have created sophisticated, structured kinship networks that fulfill the essential functions of family: providing emotional support, economic cooperation, caregiving, identity formation, and intergenerational continuity. Drawing on peer-reviewed literature from anthropology, sociology, gender studies, and architecture, this paper will demonstrate that the hijra family system—centered on the guru-c...