Jessie Loy- Transgender Thailand

Jessie Loy

Feb,22-2013

4:54pm

Soc 202-02

This article brings to light the fact that in Thailand there is an entire Transgender community. The article refers to it as a third gender. Pongsatpat Pongcharoen, who is a U.S.-educated police general created a well put together video about the transgender community. It is very upbeat and positive, as well as the first of its kind. Pongcharoen talks about how the global world is changing to be more positive about those who identify outside of being straight. She also states that Bankok as a city must be open to all variations of gender not just life styles. It is noted that not all transgendered individuals are savy when it comes to politics. It was stated however, that a transgendered individual was more likely to vote for someone who had an agenda that supported other genders and human rights. It was also noted that many politicians, including the first transgender office holder, rarely went out of their way to visit with those in the transgender community. It may come across to an outsider that the Thai community is very nice and wonderful, but it is reported to have problems just the same as any other community. Families may be supportive of transgendered members, but society as a whole can often be must more cruel. 

As an overall analysis, I think that it is a very good direction Thailand is headed in. The simple fact that they recognize transgender at all is more than other well known countries. They are much more accepting to those individuals who identify as anything other than straight. This is a huge deal when you think about it. As a human being, any one person should have the same rights as the person next them regardless of what they identify with. The fact that a man is gay or a woman is transgender does not mean they are less able to pay taxed or hold a job, yet that is how they tend to be treated. In Uganda and Russia, laws are being worked on to outlaw homosexual acts as if they are some sort of crime. Individuals in both countries have been hunted down and often live in fear, just because they are different. This is no way to treat someone. They are able to pay for taxes, hold a job and live in society the same as anyone else. In Uganda, faith is used against them and unfairly so. I’m very glad to see that there are some places in the world that are making progress towards including other genders. Thailand may not be perfect, they have their flaws the same as anyone else, but the fact they have an openly transgender commercial and woman in office speaks volumes. 

http://thediplomat.com/sport-culture/2013/02/20/thai-transgender-community-finds-its-voice/