According to Wiki, the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) arrived in Medina on this day (on the Western calendar) in 622 CE, completing the Hijra, or “withdrawal,” from Mecca, the city in ...

Nineteenth-century British travel writers and colonial officials rarely passed on the opportunity to prefix some derogatory hyperbole to the word ‘eunuch.’ Frequently they offered extensive defamation ...

People are curious about hijras. How do we live? Do we kidnap children? What funeral rites are performed for a hijra after his death? Because we hijras are so secretive about our lives, hearsay rules ...

AHMEDABAD, India — Tucked away in the Gomtipur ghetto sits the dusty pink home of Shobha, Shilpa and Joya, members of Ahmedabad’s small hijra community. Hijras, India’s “third gender,” have performed ...

MUMBAI, India — When Lord Rama was exiled from Ayodhya and his entire kingdom began to follow him into the forest, he told his disciples, “Men and women, please wipe your tears and go away.” So they ...

There are many items of clothing that announce to the world that their wearer is now a woman. For some people, it's the bra, for others, it's their first shoe with a heel. For many Indian women, that ...

One of southern India’s most popular tourist spots set an international precedent this week while also laying bare South Asia’s convoluted history with gender politics by giving 23 jobs on its new ...