Transgender voices must be heard

Transgender voices must be heard

The room was filled with positive vibrations when participants from various walks of life gathered recently for an evening event to promote legal gender recognition of transgender people in Asia.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bangkok brought together transgender speakers from Malaysia, India, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries to discuss the difficulties they have faced in life and what should be done to make Asia a better place for them.

Most transgender people, in my experience, have strong personalities because they need to be strong to survive. That strength came through in the speeches they gave about their past and present experiences. It was hard to hold back tears when I approached them to talk later, given what I had been hearing about the difficulties they faced.

A 27-year-old transgender man from Vietnam talked about being turned down for seven out of 10 jobs he applied for. He realised his true identity when he was just seven years old, which led to rejection by his family in Hanoi and bullying at school.

A transgender woman from Mumbai showed me scars on her left arm after I asked her if she had ever thought of committing suicide due to emotional depression. Her story has a happy ending as she found a man who loves her and they married nearly three years ago in South Africa, albeit to the dismay of her husband's family. "They think I'm evil," she told me.

The voice of a Malaysian transgender man shook when he talked about how difficult it was to live in fear of being caught, punished or even killed.

Although the number of transgender people in Asia has been growing and some have become public faces, a report by the UNDP and the Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN) found that transgender people across Asia still experience widespread social exclusion, stigma, discrimination and violence. They are still widely perceived to defy dominant gender norms because their gender identity and or/expression does not align with their sex assigned at birth.

Most countries in the region still do not offer alternative legal gender recognition in public registries and key documents.

According to Jack Byrne, a human rights researcher from New Zealand who has worked on transgender issues internationally, the vast majority of transgender people in Asian countries are unable to obtain any official identification documents that reflect their gender identity. That bars them from getting decent jobs and legal protection and access to public services, while leaving them vulnerable to abuses in daily life.

"Most countries do not define gender identity or gender expression or transgender people as a population group that enjoys recognition before the law," he said.

Some countries have shown progress, though. In Bangladesh, a cabinet decision in 2013 recognised the right to gender recognition for those who identify as a third gender, though implementation has been delayed. In India, the Supreme Court has upheld the right to choose to be legally recognised as any one of the genders that India recognises, whether it's male, female or third-gender identities. In Pakistan, four bills are before the National Assembly and Senate for the promotion and protection of the rights of transgender people.

Only China provides an administrative process for transgender people to change gender markers on official identity documents from male to female or vice versa, but subject to restrictive eligibility criteria.

Countries including Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines do not have any specific laws, policies or regulations allowing legal gender recognition, although the 2015 Gender Equality Act in Thailand specifically includes transgenders under the definition of "gender" and is supposed to protect them from unfair gender discrimination.

In the Philippines, gender identity is included in some local anti-discrimination ordinances. In Indonesia, courts might allow a gender marker change under a generic administrative provision for registering "other important events".

All in all, though, the transgender community says Asia still has a very long way to go in terms of legal recognition, and I agree that the time to start is now. They do not express disappointment that progress on their road to equal treatment has been slow, but instead vow to continue to work together no matter how many more years it takes.

But certainly they cannot fight their battle alone. I believe that more understanding and moral support from society at large is needed, not just to recognise transgenders but to make a place for them as valued members of our communities.

Nareerat Wiriyapong

Acting Asia Focus Editor

Acting Asia Focus Editor

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