Asia: Transgenders assert identity at AIDS meet

"There has been so much confusion going around transgenders. We are not MSMs [men who have sex with men] and don't lump us under the transvestite [category either] because we have different needs," declared Kartini Slemeh at the 9th International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) here. A transgender, Slemeh heads a transgender support programme in Malaysia that works under the Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) - an informal alliance of sex workers and organisations active in 40 countries. Slemeh and other transgenders from the region said their cause was being taken for granted by many due to lack of knowledge and indifference. A transgender identifies oneself with another gender other than what the person is biologically born into. Transgenders may identify themselves as homosexuals, transvestites or transsexuals - but some consider conventional sexual orientation labels inapplicable or inadequate for them. "It's a very complex thing trying to describe what a transgender is because it goes way beyond mere appearances or sexual preference," Yuni Shara, who heads Kebaya, a non-government organisation based in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, told IPS. Shara said that societal structures make it very difficult for transgenders to be accepted in society. "For instance, I have a difficult time deciding whether to join male or female worshippers." Stigma and discrimination for a transgender starts at an early age, said Luluk Surahman. "The lack of knowledge and information about reproductive health are compounded by confusion about one's sexuality, resulting in the individual often being ostracised within the community," said Surahman.