The largest network of self identified Bangladeshi gay men, Boys of Bangladesh, popularly known as BoB, has been working towards bringing all gay men together and to establish clear and fair rights for every member of LGBT groups in the country. “Contrary to what the name might suggest, BoB is not a platform only for gay men: we welcome everyone from the wider queer community as well as its allies and supporters,” its website says.
The organisation which is the voice of every LGBT member has launched its country’s first lesbian comic called, Dhee. Dhee is the Bengali term for intellect or wisdom.
“By creating Dhee, we want to shape perception of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people, because we should be free to choose whom to love,” Mehnaz Khan, one of the four content developers of the comic, told the AFP news agency.
Dhee is a a bespectacled, curly-haired girl, who upon identifying her sexuality, finds it really hard to decide what she should do. Whether to marry a man to please her family and society, to run away to a different country, to attempt suicide or to bravely follow her heart in front of her family.
The comic was launched at the British Council in Dhaka. The entry of every individual was strictly checked to not have anyone cause any protests at the event.
“We hope to take such events outdoors next time as we don’t want to live our lives indoors and in secret,” prominent social activist Khushi Kabir to Aljazeera.
Most of the people from the LGBT groups lead dual-lives by introducing their desires and their struggles to people with the help of Dhee, BoB aims at opening their minds to things that are completely normal in the life of an LGBT group member.
It is a brilliant news for a country so orthodox with its beliefs to see such great changes and influential movements.
News Source Aljazeera
