Yahoo – AFP,
Julia Zappei, 29 Sep 2014
Transgender
people in Malaysia said they were often the subject of social
ostracism,
discrimination, harassment, sexual abuse and arrest by authorities
(AFP
Photo/Mohd Rasfan)
|
Seremban
(Malaysia) (AFP) - Aryana had just returned to her home one night in June when
Malaysian Islamic-purity enforcers burst in, ransacking her apartment and
arresting her for cross-dressing.
Using a
pseudonym to protect her identity, Aryana is transgender -- born a man but
identifying as a woman -- and part of a substantial community that complains of
rising persecution in the Muslim-majority Southeast Asian country.
The 30
year-old was detained for several hours, during which she was roughly handled,
pressured to confess and charged a fine.
Homosexuality
is effectively banned in
Malaysia. Gay sex -- considered "against the
order of nature" -- brings up to 20 years in jail
under federal law (AFP
Photo/Mohd Rasfan)
|
Transgender
people are common in Malaysia, typically men whose gender identity is female,
but also vice versa. Some undergo sex-change surgery.
But their
lives are far different from the famously tolerant stance in Buddhist
neighbouring Thailand.
Human
Rights Watch said Malaysia is one of the world's worst countries for
transgender people, as it released a report last week detailing social
ostracism, discrimination, and harassment, sexual abuse and arrest by
authorities.
Homosexuality
is effectively banned in Malaysia. Gay sex -- considered "against the
order of nature" -- brings up to 20 years in jail under federal law.
State-level
laws on Islamic purity also criminalise dressing as the opposite sex, activists
say. Violations can bring three years in prison and a fine.
Court
challenge
Three
transgender women who were arrested four years ago are now boldly fighting that
in court via a lawsuit in the southern state of Negeri Sembilan that calls such
rules discriminatory and unconstitutional.
Its chances
are uncertain, but activists hope success will prompt scrutiny of laws in other
states. A ruling is expected November 7.
"I
hope for success. I have been waiting so long already," said one of the
parties to the suit, a slim 28-year-old dressed in tight jeans, sunglasses
holding back reddish dyed hair, who asked to be unidentified.
"I'm
not a man acting like a woman. I am a woman."
Activists
and transgender people say past attitudes were fairly tolerant in the
historically moderate Muslim country.
But
conservative Islam is growing due to a complex mix of factors.
In 1982,
the National Fatwa Council, Malaysia's highest Muslim authority, banned
sex-reassignment surgery as un-Islamic.
Authorities
have since taken a steadily harder line against transgenders and homosexuality,
critics say. A gay rights festival was banned in 2011.
Activists
said many transgender people can
become depressed, suicidal, and turn to drugs
and alcohol (AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)
|
Officials
in Najib’s office, Malaysia’s attorney-general, and a government agency that
polices Islamic conduct did not respond to AFP requests for comment.
The report
by Human Rights Watch urged the repeal of all discriminatory regulations,
saying transgender people are at constant risk of mistreatment by authorities.
In June, 16
transgender women were arrested in a raid on a wedding party in a private home
in southern Malaysia. They were sentenced to a week in prison and fined.
Some
transgender people are sent for "counselling" sessions on "moral
values".
Nisha Ayub,
now a Muslim transgender activist, said after she was arrested in 2000 that a jailer
took her from cell to cell to show male inmates her breasts. She was later
molested by prisoners.
"We
are not asking for special rights. We are just asking for equal rights,"
Nisha said.
Those who
opt for sex-change surgery encounter a bureaucratic nightmare, unable to
legally change their names and genders, complicating access to public services.
Others
complain of discrimination in employment and other spheres.
Transgender
women are commonly seen, especially in the capital Kuala Lumpur, working in
restaurants and retail outlets.
But the
price of acceptance is self-denial -- they typically wear gender-neutral
clothes, such as pants and shirts, with long hair tied back conservatively.
'It was
hell'
Deprived of
jobs, many are pushed into sex work, risking sexually-transmitted disease.
Conservative
Islam has grown in Malaysia
since 1982 when the country's highest Muslim
authority banned sex-reassignment surgery
as un-Islamic (AFP Photo/Mohd Rasfan)
|
A Hindu
ethnic Indian with long hair and dressed in a bright yellow Indian sari,
Abinaya said she turned to sex work for 30 ringgit ($10) per encounter to
survive.
"It
was hell," she said.
Abinaya had
sex-change surgery in 2011 and has found stability working with a local NGO
that helps the transgendered.
But her
pain lingers. She was sexually abused as a child by a relative, and is now
estranged from her family over her lifestyle.
Activists
said many transgender people can become depressed, suicidal, and turn to drugs
and alcohol.
"Here
we live in fear. We are treated as criminals. We are not treated as
humans," Abinaya said.
Related Article:
"The Akashic Circle" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)
“… Gender Switching
Old souls, let me tell you something. If you are old enough, and many of you are, you have been everything. Do you hear me? All of you. You have been both genders. All of you have been what I will call between genders, and that means that all of you have had gender switches. Do you know what happens when it's time for you to switch a gender? We have discussed it before. You'll have dozens of lifetimes as the same gender. You're used to it. It's comfortable. You cannot conceive of being anything else, yet now it's time to change. It takes approximately three lifetimes for you to get used to it, and in those three lifetimes, you will have what I call "gender confusion."
It isn't confusion at all. It's absolutely normal, yet society often will see it as abnormal. I'm sitting here telling you you've all been through it. All of you. That's what old souls do. It's part of the system. …”
It isn't confusion at all. It's absolutely normal, yet society often will see it as abnormal. I'm sitting here telling you you've all been through it. All of you. That's what old souls do. It's part of the system. …”
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