BBC: China debates sex change rules

17 June 2009
BBC
Source
China debates sex change rules

By Michael Bristow
BBC News, Beijing

China hopes to formalise the rules covering sex change operations to ensure that all those who want surgery meet certain requirements.

Those who apply for a sex change must be single, over 20 and have wanted the surgery for at least five years.

The proposed new guidelines, posted on the ministry of health’s website, have been distributed for public discussion.

TheSun: I was a lipstick lesbian… now I’m a gay man

Source

By SHARON HENDRY

21 May 2009

WITH her sexy curves, perfect pout and long, blonde hair, gorgeous Katherine Dalton was in big demand as a model.

But beneath her beauty lay a secret which had troubled her from an early age — she felt she was a MAN and found herself attracted to girls rather than guys.

The 31-year-old says: “For years I was a man trapped in a woman’s body. And although I was a beautiful woman I felt ugly because I was not who I wanted to be. Now I feel complete and it is fantastic.

“Going through the op to be a man was scary but it’s the most fulfilling thing I’ve done and I feel right for the first time in my life.”

Straits Times special feature: Trans Singapore

Straits Times
6 September 2008

Trans Singapore

AA new study suggests that there are at least 1,500 transsexuals in Singapore, higher than previously thought. They come from all kinds of socio-economic backgrounds, and many – debunking stereotypes of lowly educated sex workers – are high-earning professionals in both the corporate and public sectors. The majority prefer to lead invisible lives because transphobia is still very prevalent in Singapore.

By Wong Kim Hoh, Senior Writer

A DEGREE from Curtin University, Western Australia, and a regional management position in a large logistics organisation.

While laudable, Juliet’s achievements are not likely to make most people sit up and take notice.

Until, of course, the 40-year-old tells them she is a transsexual.

ST: Thai teens seeking sex changes grapple with new rules

Source: The Straits Times

July 20, 2008

BANGKOK – MS VALEE Pancharoen watched her son transform as he became a teenager, first painting his nails, then wearing a wig and, finally, the dresses he had been wearing for years but hiding from his parents.

Now 18, Ponchalearm’s changes are all the more striking as he sits, slim and ladylike in a top of white satin and black lace, next to his stern and athletic twin brother.

Ponchalearm’s aunt absent-mindedly runs her fingers through his waist-length auburn hair extensions as the family quietly discusses whether Ponchalearm is ready for a sex change operation.

‘It’s my life and I’ve decided that I must do it before university,’ Ponchalearm says. ‘I feel happy, it’s fun, I can express myself as I want. I’m lucky I have friends who understand me.’

Being gay in South Korea

Source
9 April 2008
GayNZ.com

Being gay in South Korea
By Craig Young

Korea is one of the world’s oldest civilisations, with some ancient leaders famed for their same-sex liaisons. But what’s life like for LGBT South Koreans nowadays?

Like neighbouring China and Japan, South Korea doesn’t criminalise male homosexuality, but nor does it have antidiscrimination laws that cover gay men, lesbians or members of the transgender community. In addition, military service discrimination and discriminatory censorship of LGBT publications is also a problem.

Iran’s “diagnosed transsexuals”

Source

25 February 2008
BBC News

Iran’s “diagnosed transsexuals”

Homosexual relationships are banned in Iran, but the country allows sex change operations and hundreds of men have elected for surgery to change their lives.

By Vanessa Barford BBC News

“He wants to kill me. He keeps telling me to come home so he can kill me. He had put rat poison in my tea.”

For Ali Askar, at age 24, the decision to become a woman came at a heavy cost. His father threatened to kill him if he went ahead with surgery.

Now renamed Negar, she says she would not have had the operation if she did not live in Iran.

Inside the broken lives of Orchard Road’s ladyboys

Editor’s note: This is a two-part feature in The New Paper. The second part is below in the same post.

Source: The New Paper
11 June 2007

Inside the broken lives of Orchard Road’s ladyboys
Dad left family because of me
By Mindy Tan

When Selina, 27, begins putting on makeup at home, there are no questions from mum about the outing or trivial chatter about what hairstyle is best.

Selina’s mother can’t bear to look at her own child – the womanly face, arched eyebrows, long lashes and lipstick belong to a side of her child that she doesn’t want to know.

You see, Selina is a transvestite.