Gender titles emerge as new battleground
The groundbreaking Marriage Equality Bill may lead to equality of marriage for all, but many of those who registered for wedding last week still have issues with their gender identity because their female name did not match their gender identity.
They have urged the government to complete the Gender Recognition Bill, which will let people choose their gender name and give them a gender-neutral choice when deciding whether or not to recognize as male or female.
Related appearance, personality
Many transmen transitioning to the male gender are still referred to as” Miss,” according to Atitaya Asa, a coordinator for a working group within the Transmasculine Network for Equality.
Transmen do not identify as women or consider themselves genetic women, especially those who have chosen to go through a medical change. As a result, using Miss/Ms does not adhere to their personality or life, as they conduct their lives as people.
The female title furthermore contrasts with their appearance, causing several complications, such as when travelling abroad.
Although their name remained” Miss,” the airport security staff frequently encountered problems because they perceived their traveling files as being wrong.
” Immigration officers believe our names are different on our journey files, especially in our photos. Traveling becomes challenging as a result. Some are denied access to the target country”, he said.
When they enter a banks, team lift the same problem.
Because our voices are lower than that of transgender men, many of us are suspected of being offenders, he said.
When they are admitted to a doctor, there is another situation. In many hospitals, female titles also be used to distinguish patients in hospital rooms. Because of their sex title,” Miss,” they are grouped into adult rooms.
Because transmen are a new concept in Thailand, he said,” Some medical professionals are beginning to show sex awareness, but their figures are still humble.”
The transgender recognition costs may give people the same right to self-determination.
Atitaya: Rights for transmen
Intersex and the’ X’ subject
According to Intersex Asia, a local community of intersex-led organizations and individuals from Asian nations, there are gender traits that are unique to people born with.
Their gender identity, however, may be adult, female, both, or neither. And the variants in sexual anatomy are normally occurring, not a weakness as many people misunderstand, it says.
The word “intersex” is used to describe people who are born with sex characteristics, such as genitalia, Turner syndrome, Klinefelter syndrome, and hormones that do not meet the standard definitions of male or female, such as a person who has ambiguous genitalia, according to the group.
According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, authorities have estimated that up to 1.7 % of people are born with trans characteristics, which means that their identity may be simply defined as either male or female.
Being transgender is not a weakness that can be fixed with health care, said Nada Chaiyajit, a law professor from Mae Fah Luang University, who identifies as trans-intersex.
However, some trans children are forced to undergo genital operation to create their bodies adhere to sex stereotypes.
She claimed that some transgender people have experienced discrimination since birth, when they have to have gender-assigned surgery, when their parents are being questioned about their hormone levels or how much they are influenced by their bodies, or when they are asked to choose between two genitalia.
When they grow up and believe their genitalia, gender, and sex do not match up, the issue arises.
Our parents may be afraid of our ambiguous sexual characteristics, which may explain our grief.
They also worry that their kids might get bullied, but they make the decision to go for a female that causes issues because it doesn’t reflect our feelings when we grow up, she said.
She said trans people also suffer from social norms when they need to use public restrooms, wearing college uniforms, or fill out sex personality forms, and there is only a binary choice of” sexual “or” male”.
There should also be an” X “title for those who do not want to be called Mr or Ms, such as for some transgenders, gay, trans, or non-binary individuals, as they may think they are not associated with specific gender containers.
She said,” Providing the X” title may help those who don’t want to identify with any gender in the binary system express themselves freely.
There are no records that can accurately represent the number of intersex people in Thailand because people fear being targeted or bullied.
Many Thai people still label their identities as the result of adulterous deeds committed in their previous lives.
We need to impart more information to our society about our identity. Intersex is more than just a sex feature, it also refers to our gender identity. Our sexual orientation may be gay, lesbian, or transgender. We are diverse,” she said.
The UN Human Rights Council, she said, adopted a resolution” Combating discrimination, violence and harmful practices against intersex persons “on April 4 last year.
It called on member states to address stereotypes, misconceptions, stigma and taboos associated with intersex people and protect intersex persons ‘ rights.
She suggested Thailand should follow such a resolution.
The UN’s resolution, which calls on states to protect us, was published in response, adding that the government should follow suit.
Nada: Support for UN resolution
The bill’s progress
The Gender Recognition Bill has four variations. The government approved one bill under the auspices of the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, while the other three bills were put forth by the People’s Party and Intersex Thailand, two civil society organizations.
The main idea behind each of the four proposals is that people should be able to choose their gender identification and title based on their self-determined gender identity and without needing medical certification to validate their physical and psychological states.
Those bills also offer various forms of gender title apart from Mr, Miss, Mrs to Khun, Nam and no gender title. Some versions state that a person must obtain a court order in order to change their gender identity and title for the second time.
Somsri Jongpensukloet, a senior official from the Office of Women’s Affairs and Family Development at Social Development and Human Security Ministry, told a seminar on” Gender recognition in Thailand: Can we identify our gender by ourselves? “at Prince of Songkla University ( PSU) that the ministry’s Gender Recognition Bill was based on self-determination.
Without the need for any medical records, individuals can independently determine their gender identity under the proposed legislation. Some people worried that gender identity would be overly extreme.
” Our measure adheres to universal human rights, which is our ultimate objective. However, we may have to look at multiple aspects and social settings, as the issue involves several parties,” she added. The cabinet has yet to submit the bill to parliament, despite having had a public hearing.
Knock-on effects
Sutthichai Ngamchuensuwan, Law Faculty Dean at PSU, said gender is no longer defined solely by biological sex, but also by social dimensions, which allows people to establish their own gender identity.
As a result, self-determination is a foundation for several countries ‘ laws.
In some countries, medical confirmation was required to change one’s gender identity, which raises the matter of costs.
Doctors have always allowed people to alter their legal gender identity at will. Having this law based on self-determination is essential, “he said.
However, the self-determination process must consider other factors, such as age and the ability to change gender in the future.
” As Thai law is based on a gender binary system, once we allow people to change their gender identification, we must consider the impact of that change on other laws, rights, marital status or other benefits based on gender identity, and way of life, particularly in the medical field, where medical treatment is still based on the patient’s gender assigned at birth, “he added.
Sutthichai: Self-determination is key
