Monday, 11 June 2018

The secret life of Thailand’s ladyboys from Muslim majority southern provinces | SCMP

The secret life of Thailand's ladyboys from Muslim majority southern provinces | South China Morning Post


Ardulmalik Maskul talks of her difficulties in Pattani in Islamic south Thailand in the SCMP

"In Pattani I can't dress like this," says Maskul, gesturing at her tightfitting navy-blue dress with a plunging neckline and a hemline that sits well above the knees. She's in a Bangkok shopping centre and no one pays her any attention.

"If I did this at home, people would shout insults at me. They might attack me." 

Ladyboys: safe and accepted in North Thailand (Buddhist)
Ladyboys: unsafe and not accepted in South Thailand (Muslim). 
Note that these are not wild and wacky Muslim extremists, in South Thailand. They're not the so-called "tiny minority" of Muslims who have "hijacked" the "religion of peace". These are run-of-the-mill Muslims in one of the most tolerant countries on earth. 
Yet there are groups of LGBT who support Islam. Like "LGBT against Islamophobia" in the U.K. 
Suicidal. Even if they are naive and well meaning. 
Print version headline: "The prisoners of gender"