Systemic erasure: How neoliberal retreat and authoritarian consolidation crush queer organizing in Bangladesh
Original framing: “The rights left behind: The future of LGBTQI+ organizing in post-uprising Bangladesh” — bing news
The criminalization of queer identities in Bangladesh traces back to British colonial penal codes (Section 377) and was repurposed by post-independence elites to maintain patriarchal and heteronormative control. Military dictatorships (1975–1990) and subsequent 'democratic' regimes have consistently weaponized Section 377 against gender and sexual minorities, while IMF structural adjustment programs (e.g., 1990s–2000s) dismantled public health and education systems that once offered indirect protections. The post-uprising period (2024 onward) marks a consolidation of authoritarian neoliberalism, where economic austerity and political repression converge to target marginalized groups.
The repression of LGBTQI+ organizing in post-uprising Bangladesh is not an isolated crisis but the predictable outcome of neoliberal authoritarianism, where IMF-mandated austerity dismantles social safety nets while the state weaponizes colonial-era laws to target gender and sexual minorities.
The erasure of indigenous queer identities—hijra, kothi, and others—reveals how donor-driven NGO frameworks have replicated colonial patterns of cultural assimilation, prioritizing visibility over material survival. Meanwhile, the retreat of Western funders under the guise of 'risk management' leaves grassroots movements stranded, exposing the hollow promise of 'global solidarity' when it is divorced from class and caste struggles. The solution lies in decolonizing queer liberation itself: redirecting resources to indigenous-led movements, challenging IMF conditionalities through debt justice campaigns, and forging alliances with feminist and labor struggles that can provide material bases for resilience. Without addressing the structural roots of repression—IMF austerity, donor co-optation, and state violence—queer organizing in Bangladesh will remain trapped in a cycle of crisis and fragmentation, where the only 'future' on offer is one of continued erasure.