'I am bapuk and mak nyah, so what?'

 

They won in the court of law, but not in the court of public opinion.

And when tongues wag, what exactly plays in the hearts and in the minds of these transgender individuals, the ones referred to as bapuk (transvestite), mak nyah (drag queen) or pondan (effeminate men) in society?

Muhammad Izat Hasmi, a transgender from the small town of Batang Kali, Selangor is the first to admit that it has never been easy.

Facing a gender crisis ever since she was a child, Izat chose to dress as a woman when she turned 18.

When met, the 25-year-old was dressed in a red tank top and black jacket, with immaculately groomed hair and make up like any other woman.

Unlike the general perception that transgender individuals are sex workers, Izat, fondly known as Girl-girl, is trained in the sciences and was employed as a lab assistant at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur.

But pressure at work due to her gender identity eventually forced her to quit her job.

"People would try to advise me, but in a rude way like they were purposely trying to hurt my feelings.

"They told me that pondan won’t enter heaven. Are they God?" she asks, fixing her long hair.

Girl-girl says that the harassment also extends to when she has to face officials to renew her drivers’ licence or identity card.

"When it comes to things where I have to declare my gender, the officials will look at me from head to toe.

"But maybe that’s just because I am different,” she says, a smile always on her lips.

Not criminals

Despite her cheery persona, Girl-girl is not optimistic about her future in Malaysia due to the prevailing laws against transgender individuals.

"I know that people like us we don’t have much of a choice, but I hope the authorities can be bit more relaxed in its enforcement and not just arrest us.

"What exactly have we done? We didn’t commit any crime," she says.

Perhaps, she says, the authorities should try to understand them first.

Although outwardly a woman, Girl-girl, a Muslim, has opted not to undertake a sex change operation, and is unlikely to do so in the future due to her religion.

"I can tell you honestly that I still have a penis. I have only taken hormones (to change my appearance to that of a woman).

“I know that our religion does not allow us to make changes to our genitalia as when we die, we should return to Him, as how we were created,” she says.

She says that she has also come to terms with the unkindness that society has shown to her.

"At first I was angry, but what can I do? The fact is, people look down on us.

"But I am bapuk,  I am mak nyah. So what?" she says, inviting laughter from her friends.

The Nov 7 the Court of Appeal verdict that a Negri Sembilan syariah enactment banning cross-dressing is unconstitutional is seen as an indirect acknowledgement of the transgender community.

Girl-girl welcomes the decision and believes that the court has finally heard the cries of the transgender.

Pausing for a moment, she smiles.

"This is a new hope for the transgender community."