Values Movement Chairman Professor Dr Mohammad Sarwar Hossain called for the repeal of the transgender-friendly Amended Labour Law 2026 and adoption of a “binary-sex policy” across all levels of government in Bangladesh. He made the demands at the National Ulama-Mashayekh Convention at the Diploma Engineers Institute in Kakrail, Dhaka, on Tuesday, 25 August, alleging that transgenderism and homosexuality were being indirectly legitimised.

Sarwar said official documents should replace the term “gender” with “sex” or biological sex, and urged opposition to what he described as gender ideology. He also called for hijras to be recognised as people with sex-related disabilities through medical examinations. He alleged that the previous interim government had promoted LGBT-related agendas through cultural and state events, name changes, international agreements, legal reforms and policy participation.

He criticised what he described as administrative inaction over a same-sex marriage event at Dhakeshwari Temple and a Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics LGBT policy. Sarwar also called for open debate over the use of “inclusive” and “gender” terminology in education. His remarks included references to policies and positions he attributed to the United States, Russia, China, the OIC and Islamic fatwa boards.