In the culture of South Asia, hijras (Hindi: हिजड़ा, Urdu: ہِجڑا, Bengali: হিজড়া, Telugu: హిజ్ర) or khusra in Punjabi and kojja in Telugu are physiological males who adopt feminine gender identity, women's clothing and other feminine gender roles.
Since the late 20th century, some hijra activists and Western non-government organizations (NGOs) have been lobbying for official recognition of the hijra as a kind of "third sex" or "third gender," as neither man nor woman.
Hijra are gaining more recognition and prominence through Asia, evidenced by the election of Shobha Nehru in 1998 to city council in Hissar, Haryana (India) and the newly passed law in 2013 that allows hijra in Pakistan to run for political office, though as of this writing any hijra have yet to be voted into power in Pakistan.
Note that hijra in Islam refers to a migration of Muhammad to avoid an assassination attempt in 622 CE and is completely unrelated.