Is the U.S. ‘promoting transgenderism’ in Bangladesh? We unpack DeSantis’ claim

We fact-checkers are sometimes stumped when hearing politicians make claims. And when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a Concord, New Hampshire, town hall, that U.S. tax dollars "have gone to promote transgenderism in Bangladesh," we had one of those moments.

In January, we heard him say it again in Iowa.

What was the Republican presidential candidate referring to? 

The Bangladeshi population has long included a community of people who identify as "third-gender," sometimes referred to as the "hijra." For centuries, they played a role in religious life in South Asian communities but were criminalized under British colonization, which lasted from 1757 to 1947. 

In the past decade, Bangladesh’s government has taken steps to reduce discrimination against third-gender people by legally recognizing a third-gender category and opening job opportunities.

What is the United States’ role? DeSantis’ team pointed PolitiFact toward U.S. foreign aid that was given to local Bangladeshi organizations from 2018 to 2020 that supported gender-diverse communities. The program aimed partly to increase third-gender people’s awareness of their rights and promote access to legal aid. USAID wrote that its support helped "mobilize" and get a third-gender option added to  Bangladesh’s national census in 2021. Another round of funding was awarded in 2022. 

So, U.S. foreign aid has supported local LGBTQ+ nongovernmental organizations since 2018, but Bangladesh already had a long history of gender diversity, and Bangladesh’s government has been moving toward greater recognition of third-gender people since 2013.

In Bangladesh, and in other South Asian countries such as India, "hijra" are most often intersex individuals — those born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that is not exclusively male or female — or those assigned male at birth, but who present as women or identify as feminine.

Experts have noted that the term "transgender" is an imperfect way to describe the hijra community. "Most hijras consider themselves to be third gender — neither male nor female, not transitioning," said a 2018 case study on the community from Harvard Divinity School, but some hijras have identified as transgender or sought out gender reassignment procedures. 

Before the British colonized the region, third-gender people were "revered" and rose to "significant positions of power under both Hindu and Muslim rulers," according to the Harvard case study, written by graduate student Kristofer Rhude. South Asian cultures considered hijras to be people who had sacrificed their male genitalia in return for what they deemed spiritual power that allowed them to perform rituals and bless or curse marriages and newborns. Hindu holy texts include references to a third -gender.

In 1871, under British colonial rule, hijras were criminalized, and that stigma has lasted.

In a 2016 report by Human Rights Watch, a New York-based nongovernmental organization, hijras in Bangladesh reported stigma, discrimination and violence, as well as challenges doing tasks like registering to vote or opening a bank account. 

But the community remains strong in number, with Bangladesh’s 2022 census counting more than 12,000 hijras. 

The country made its first significant policy change when it announced in 2013 that it would legally recognize a third-gender category. In December 2014, the Ministry of Social Welfare invited hijras to apply for certain government jobs. 

However, according to the Human Rights Watch report, people who went through the interview process reported inappropriate interview questions and were subjected to invasive medical examinations. Several interviewees were accused of being men impersonating hijras. 

In the following years, the government took several steps to expand employment opportunities for third-gender Bangladeshis.

In 2015, after a hijra witnessed and helped solve a high-profile murder, the government announced plans to recruit third-gender people into law enforcement, specifically traffic police jobs. Banks were instructed to allow hijras to apply for bank loans. And, in 2021, the government announced a tax rebate to benefit companies that hired third-gender employees. 

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Where do U.S. tax dollars come into this? DeSantis’ campaign pointed us to a 2018-20 program by USAID called the Rights for Gender Diverse Populations. The program was implemented by a partner NGO, the Bandhu Social Welfare Society, over three years and cost $850,000, according to a 2021 performance evaluation of the program.

USAID, the leading U.S. agency for foreign aid, receives its money from Congress. Congress’ revenue for federal spending largely comes from tax collection. The Bandhu Social Welfare Society, which works with gender diverse populations in Bangladesh, has received grants from USAID in 2018 and in 2022.  

The 2018-20 program goal was, partly, to "advance human rights advocacy for (gender-diverse populations)" and improve access to public services and legal aid. The program set up a panel of lawyers to provide legal advice, educational radio public service announcements, collaborated with private agencies to provide employment opportunities, and trained community watchdogs to help third-gender people "learn about and assert their rights." 

In promotional materials, USAID said its support helped "mobilize the National Human Rights Commission to include a third-gender option in the 2021 (Bangladeshi) census for the first time."

DeSantis said U.S. tax dollars "have gone to promote transgenderism in Bangladesh."

Since 2018, the U.S. has invested in aid programs in Bangladesh that support gender-diverse people. 

But PolitiFact found no evidence that this money was used to persuade people to take on a new gender identity or undergo gender transition, as some hearing DeSantis’ statement might be led to believe. 

The money is supporting a community that describes itself as "hijra" or "third-gender" — not necessarily "transgender" — that has existed for hundreds of years and that the Bangladeshi government had worked to recognize.

His statement is partially accurate in that there is a program funded by the U.S. that supports the gender-diverse community in Bangladesh, but he omits critical cultural and historical context.

We rate this claim Half True.