Sexual Orientation and Transgender Issues in Organizations || Transgender Individuals in Asian Islamic Countries: An Overview of Workplace Diversity and Inclusion Issues in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Malaysia

Workplaces are an essential part of helping individuals realize their sense of self and social belonging (Vries 2012). In a world where dichotomized gender roles are already askew, transgender individuals face particular challenges that have been hitherto underemphasized in the diversity literature. A transgender person is some- one who has a gender identity, physiology, and/or enacts behaviors not traditionally associated with dichotomously categorized birth sex in a particular social context (Kenagy 2005). Although some countries have made preliminary legislative pro- gress in relaxing binary gender categories (e.g., Germany, US, India), in others, especially those where legislation is often defined along religious lines (e.g., Asian Islamic countries like Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan), it can still be illegal to be transgender (Ca ́ceres et al. 2006).