Dhee is Bangladesh's first lesbian comic book character

Boys of Bangladesh (BoB), an Bangladesh-based queer community organization, has turned to comics in order to reach out to younger community members with their pro-LGBT advocacy. Project Dhee, BoB’s newest campaign, is built around Dhee, an upcoming comic book that tells the story of a young Bangladeshi woman who happens to be a lesbian.

Each issue of the comic book is made up of 10 flashcards that describe a situation in which sexual or gender prejudice becomes an issue for Dhee. Along with telling a linear story, the cards are meant to encourage people to contemplate and rethink their ideas about what it means to be queer.

Though her sexuality is part of what drives Dhee’s story, BoB told the Dhaka Tribune, the comic book focuses on a wider variety of social issues facing women in India. The decision to write Dhee as a woman, Bob explained, was a conscious choice meant to highlight the presence of women in India’s  queer community.

Ultimately, BoB wants Dhee to become much more than a straightforward comic book. The organization plans on handing the book out at LGBT-focused rallies and gatherings all over India.

“By creating Dhee, we want to shape perception of LGBT  people, because we should be free to choose whom to love,” content developer Mehnaz Khan told Agence France-Presse at a Project Dhee launch party. “It’s about carrying the message to all.”