Yes, my friend from Kolkata has educated me a bit about Hijra communities in India, He tells me there can be a language disconnect, because "transgender" in English does not carry the same connotations that Hijra or the equivalents carry in South Asian languages. He usually speaks Bangla with his mother, for example, and when he talks about being trans in their language instead of in English, his mother hears things like sex work and begging - even though he doesn't say those words.

She's already worried about caste issues, because when the family fled Bangladesh during Partition, they took advantage of the chaos and a flexible family name to masquerade as a higher caste. She lives in fear of that being discovered and certain professionals in their family losing their livelihood. (Her brother is a physician, and she says he would lose most of his patients if they learned his true caste.)

So the idea of having a Hijra in the family, with all that says about class and acceptability, adds to her social fears.

And my young friend carries all of that on his shoulders. It's not easy for him.