TARIN TANI BASHAR

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Tarin Tani Bashar (she/her) is a transgender human rights activist, project professional, and LGBTIQ+ rights advocate whose work focuses on equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), community empowerment, education, and the advancement of the rights of gender-diverse people.

Tarin holds both graduate and postgraduate qualifications from Shanto-Mariam University of Creative Technology, Bangladesh. Her academic background, combined with extensive community-based experience, has informed her approach to designing and implementing initiatives that connect human rights, education, social development, and community participation.

Over the years, Tarin has dedicated her advocacy to advancing the dignity, safety, and rights of LGBTIQ+ people in Bangladesh and across the wider Asian region. She previously served as Project Director at Inclusive Bangladesh and has been a team member of Dhaka Pride, contributing to initiatives focused on community mobilisation, visibility, public education, advocacy, and social inclusion.

A significant part of Tarin’s advocacy has focused on addressing the harms associated with conversion practices. As a survivor of conversion therapy herself, she has drawn on lived experience to speak about the psychological, social, and human rights consequences of practices intended to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Her advocacy has extended beyond Bangladesh, including efforts to raise awareness and support calls for the elimination and prohibition of conversion practices across Asia.

Tarin has also participated in regional LGBTIQ+ leadership and movement-building spaces. She was a candidate for the Transgender Representative position of ILGA Asia Board election during the 2022 ILGA Asia Regional Conference in Vietnam, reflecting her commitment to strengthening transgender representation, regional cooperation, and the meaningful participation of community advocates within Asian human rights movements.

Her professional experience includes the coordination and implementation of a wide range of LGBTIQ+ social development and SRHR initiatives. She has worked on developing SRHR knowledge products for young people and the non-formal education sector, with the aim of improving access to inclusive, rights-based information and strengthening understanding of issues affecting LGBTIQ+ communities.

Her responsibilities have also included building partnerships among SRHR organisations and knowledge-product stakeholders, monitoring and evaluating project outcomes, coordinating research-informed activities, and connecting stakeholders across community, organisational, and institutional levels. Through this work, she has contributed to translating research and community knowledge into accessible resources that can support education, advocacy, and social change.

As Project Coordinator of the Global Centre for Rights, Tarin supports the planning, implementation, monitoring, and coordination of the organisation’s projects and community initiatives. Her work is grounded in lived experience, intersectional human rights principles, and a commitment to ensuring that LGBTIQ+ people—particularly transgender and gender-diverse communities—are meaningfully represented in the development of policies, programs, and knowledge that affect their lives.