Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prologue

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Becoming a Malaysian Trans Man

Part of the book series: Gender, Sexualities and Culture in Asia ((GSCA))

  • 230 Accesses

Abstract

The Prologue to this monograph opens with an introduction to Dorian Wilde—Malaysian trans activist, gender and sexuality rights advocate, and founder and co-leader of the online support group Transmen of Malaysia (ToM)—for a preliminary investigation of the vicissitudes of trans men through his eyes. The section on transdiscourses elucidates the crucial relevance of affirming terminologies of self-identity which are devised by trans men themselves for self-actualisation and self-empowerment. A presentation on the ethic of unsilencing, which serves as the overarching analytical framework for the entire book, appears before a brief discussion on transgender studies in Malaysia. The chapter overview, which closes the Prologue, samples narratives that contextualise the constitutive elements involved in the becomings of Malaysian trans men.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Dorian Wilde’s assigned name at birth as it appears in his MyKad or Malaysian Identity Card is adequately androgynous-sounding to elude gender policing. Nonetheless, he has indicated his preference to use, and be addressed and referred to as ‘Dorian Wilde’. See also ‘Appendix 2: Interviewing Dorian Wilde’.

  2. 2.

    The precise etymology of ‘mak nyah’ remains obscure, but Thaatchaayini Kananatu and I suggest the following: ‘“[M]ak” is a Malay honorific used for senior women. “Nyah” is an abbreviation of “nyonya”, a term used for Malaysian ladies of mixed parentage. It is often used in reference to effeminate male-bodied subjects. Taken together, “mak nyah” can be understoodas a respectful term for effeminate, lady-like men’ (2018, n. 1). Trans activist Khartini Slamah (2005) states that the term was chosen and appropriated by trans women in Peninsular Malaysia themselves in 1987 in order to create a unique group identity that would simultaneously confer a sense of dignity.

  3. 3.

    There are three matters I wish to bring up here. First, Western-groomed categories that make up the LGBTIQ acronym continue to gain traction among Malaysians. The imaginaries of self-empowerment and self-actualisation that ‘LGBTIQ’ harbour are far more appealing than mostly derogatory local terms. Second, ‘LGBTIQ’ is my extension of the term ‘LGBT’ which is gaining popularity in ‘newspaper articles without parenthetical explanation’ (Ferrarese et al. 2015, 54) and is used in a disparaging manner by Malaysian politicians and religious leaders. Gay men and trans women arguably command greater prominence as compared to other communities in the country.

  4. 4.

    Owing to the fact that a majority of Malay-Muslim, Indian and indigenous Malaysians use patronymic names, I will refer to most of them by their first names. However, it must be noted that while some do adopt surnames, its use is arbitrary, inconsistent and undetermined.

  5. 5.

    See ‘Appendix 1: Designing the Research Project’ for a fuller description of each research participant.

  6. 6.

    These names are all self-selected pseudonyms. In ‘Appendix 1: Designing the Research Project’, I provide more information on the research design and research participants.

  7. 7.

    During a face-to-face conversation on 4th June 2016, Wilde expressed his discomfort with the term ‘transgenderism’ and insisted vehemently that Malaysian trans men are not ‘isms’. Since then I have avoided the term in favour of ‘subjectivity’, ‘self-affirmed gender identity’, ‘gender identity’, ‘personhood’ and other similar terms. See ‘Epilogue’.

  8. 8.

    The national language of Indonesia which is similar to the national language of Malaysia.

  9. 9.

    Bahasa Malaysia or Malay, sometimes referred to as Bahasa Melayu, is the national language of Malaysia.

  10. 10.

    My research participants provided sparse feedback on class, ethnicity and spatial issues, even when persistently prompted. I am inclined to believe that these issues are ordinarily more implicitly than explicitly experienced and articulated.

  11. 11.

    Throughout this book, I use such terms, as well as ‘womanness’, ‘womanhood’, ‘womanliness’, ‘femaleness’ and ‘femininity’ without inverted commas not in an ontological sense, but to denote a performance of traits that convincingly portray a desired gender identity.

  12. 12.

    WhatsApp conversation with Wilde, 24th April 2018.

  13. 13.

    Dennis Altman’s article ‘On Global Queering’ (1996) comes immediately to mind.

  14. 14.

    Patriarchy is ‘a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it’ (Brown 2016, 207). Heteronormativity ‘refers … to the myriad ways in which heterosexuality is produced as a natural, unproblematic, taken-for-granted, ordinary phenomenon’ (Kitzinger 2005, 478). In the same vein, cisnormativity ‘highlights the privileging of a non-trans norm’ (Pyne 2011, 129) as ‘trans bodies are rendered unintelligible and unwelcome’ (Pyne 2011, 133).

  15. 15.

    See ‘Appendix 1: Designing the Research Project’.

  16. 16.

    Throughout this volume, I refer to this scholar and his works solely by the name ‘Aaron Devor’.

  17. 17.

    Warp’s narrative here evinces a blend of English and Bahasa Malaysia, common among Malaysians.

  18. 18.

    Literally, Bumiputeras means ‘“sons (or princes) of the soil”’. The contentious category is often used ‘to justify preferential treatment in … politics and the economy’ (Holst 2012, 35) for Malaysians of Malay and indigenous descent.

  19. 19.

    Malaysia conducts its Census every ten years, and the next one is slated for 2020.

  20. 20.

    ‘Lah’ is a suffix that is added to casual conversations in multiple languages in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam as a ‘“solidarity/familiarity/emphasis” marker’ (Ooi 2001, 113).

Bibliography

  • Abelson, Miriam J. 2019. Men in Place: Trans Masculinity, Race, and Sexuality in America. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adair, Cassius. 2019. ‘Licensing Citizenship: Anti-Blackness, Identification Documents, and Transgender Studies’. American Quarterly 71 (2): 569–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aizura, Aren Z. 2018. Mobile Subjects: Transnational Imaginaries of Gender Reassignment. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aliran. 2005. ‘The Moorthy Maniam Case: Compassion and Justice Missing’. Aliran Monthly 25 (11). https://aliran.com/archives/monthly/2005b/11b.html.

  • Altman, Dennis. 1996. ‘On Global Queering’. Australian Humanities Review, no. 2 (July). http://www.australianhumanitiesreview.org/archive/Issue-July-1996/altman.html.

  • Amran Hassan, and Suriati Ghazali. 2013. ‘Sexual Abuse and Childhood Traumatic Experience: A Case Study on the Psychological Health of Transsexuals in Malaysia’. International Journal of Environment, Society and Space 1 (1): 33–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ani Amelia Zainuddin, and Zaleha Abdullah Mahdy. 2017. ‘The Islamic Perspectives of Gender-Related Issues in the Management of Patients With Disorders of Sex Development’. Archives of Sexual Behavior 46 (2): 353–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson, Sean R., and Darren Russell. 2015. ‘Gender Dysphoria’. Australian Family Physician 44 (11): 792–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barmania, Sima, and Syed Mohamed Aljunid. 2016. ‘Navigating HIV Prevention Policy and Islam in Malaysia: Contention, Compatibility or Reconciliation? Findings from in-Depth Interviews Among Key Stakeholders’. BMC Public Health 16: 524.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, Elena P., and Noel Myricks. 2004. ‘Sex Reassignment Surgery: When Is a “He” a “She” for the Purpose of Marriage in the United States?’ American Journal of Family Law 18 (1): 30–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boellstorff, Tom. 2004. ‘The Emergence of Political Homophobia in Indonesia: Masculinity and National Belonging’. Ethnos 69 (4): 465–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2005. The Gay Archipelago: Sexuality and Nation in Indonesia. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, Michael Eric. 2016. A Herstory of Transmasculine Identities: An Annotated Anthology. Miami, FL: Boundless Endeavors, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Budge, Stephanie L., Joe J. Orovecz, and Jayden L. Thai. 2015. ‘Trans Men’s Positive Emotions: The Interaction of Gender Identity and Emotion Labels’. The Counseling Psychologist 43 (3): 404–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, Judith. 1993. Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of ‘Sex’. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1999. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, Shraddha. 2018. ‘Transgender Shifts: Notes on Resignification of Gender and Sexuality in India’. TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly 5 (3): 311–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chee, Heng Leng. 2008. ‘Ownership, Control, and Contention: Challenges for the Future of Healthcare in Malaysia’. Social Science & Medicine, Future Health Systems, 66 (10): 2145–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheh, Samantha. 2017. ‘How Life Is Tough for Transgender People in Conservative Malaysia, Who Face Violence, Religious and Official Bias, and Abusive Media’. South China Morning Post, 15 November. http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2119847/how-life-tough-transgenders-conservative-malaysia-who-face-violence.

  • Cheng, Patrick S., and Joseph N. Goh. 2012. ‘Queer Asian Spirit’. Queer Asian Spirit. http://www.queerasianspirit.org/.

  • Chiang, Howard, Todd A. Henry, and Helen Hok-Sze Leung. 2018. ‘Trans-in-Asia, Asia-in-Trans: An Introduction’. TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly 5 (3): 298–310.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chong, Joyce Ma Lai. 1990. ‘Social Assessment of Transsexuals Who Apply for Sex Reassignment Therapy’. Social Work in Health Care 14 (3): 87–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chua, Hang Kuen. 2014. ‘Malay Muslim PLU Men in Peninsular Malaysia: Negotiating Non-Heteronormative Sexualities and Sexual Identities in Malay Muslim-Dominant Society’. PhD diss., Melbourne, Australia: La Trobe University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cromwell, Jason. 1999. Transmen and FTMs: Identities, Bodies, Genders, and Sexualities. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Currah, Paisley, and Shannon Minter. 2000. ‘Unprincipled Exclusions: The Struggle to Achieve Judicial and Legislative Equality for Transgender People Symposium: (De)Constructing Sex: Transgenderism, Intersexuality, Gender Identity and the Law’. William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law 7: 37–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeAlwis, Caesar, and Maya Khemlani David. 2010. ‘Language and Identity of Malay Teenage Mak Nyah (Transvestites) in Kuching’. JATI—Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 15: 39–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Statistics, Malaysia. 2010. ‘Population Distribution and Basic Demographic Characteristics 2010’. https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/ctheme&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09&bul_id=MDMxdHZjWTk1SjFzTzNkRXYzcVZjdz09.

  • Devor, Aaron. 1987. ‘Gender Blending Females: Women and Sometimes Men’. American Behavioral Scientist 31 (1): 12–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1993. ‘Sexual Orientation Identities, Attractions, and Practices of Female-to-Male Transsexuals’. The Journal of Sex Research 30 (4): 303–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1994. ‘Toward a Taxonomy of Gendered Sexuality’. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality 6 (1): 23–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2002. ‘Who Are “We”? Where Sexual Orientation Meets Gender Identity’. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy 6 (2): 5–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2016. FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, Lisa M., and Molly Butterworth. 2008. ‘Questioning Gender and Sexual Identity: Dynamic Links Over Time’. Sex Roles 59 (5–6): 365–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Earnshaw, Valerie A., Harry Jin, Jeffrey Wickersham, Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Jacob John, and Frederick L. Altice. 2014. ‘Exploring Intentions to Discriminate Against Patients Living with HIV/AIDS Among Future Healthcare Providers in Malaysia’. Tropical Medicine & International Health 19 (6): 672–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edelman, Elijah Adiv, and Lal Zimman. 2014. ‘Boycunts and Bonus Holes: Trans Men’s Bodies, Neoliberalism, and the Sexual Productivity of Genitals’. Journal of Homosexuality 61 (5): 673–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fallon, L. Fleming, and Margaret Alic. 2015. ‘Mastectomy’. In The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, edited by Jacqueline L. Longe, 5th ed., 3214. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, Cengage Learning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Felix, Mark Stephan. 2014. ‘Stigma as Part of Identity Development of Gay Men in Penang—A Qualitative Study’. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities 22 (1): 365–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrarese, Marco, Joseph N. Goh, Julian C. H. Lee, and Caryn Lim. 2015. ‘Identity Formations in Contemporary Malaysia: Traversing and Transcending Ethnicity’. In Malaysia Post-Mahathir: A Decade of Change? edited by James Chin and Joern Dosch, 41–69. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fong, Fernando. 2015a. ‘Transgenders in Malaysia “vulnerable and Marginalised”—The Rakyat Post’. The Rakyat Post, 24 January. http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2015/01/24/transgenders-malaysia-vulnerable-marginalised/.

  • ———. 2015b. ‘Born a Woman, but Always Been a Man’. The Rakyat Post, 26 January. http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2015/01/26/born-woman-always-man/.

  • Foucault, Michel. 1980. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972–1977. Edited by Colin Gordon. New York: Pantheon Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Free Malaysia Today. 2017. ‘Transgender Shot Three Times and Slashed’. Free Malaysia Today, 23 February. http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2017/02/23/transgender-shot-three-times-and-slashed/.

  • Gibson, Britton A., Shan-Estelle Brown, Ronnye Rutledge, Jeffrey A. Wickersham, Adeeba Kamarulzaman, and Frederick L. Altice. 2016. ‘Gender Identity, Healthcare Access, and Risk Reduction Among Malaysia’s Mak Nyah Community’. Global Public Health 11 (7–8): 1010–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giffney, Noreen. 2009. ‘Introduction: The “q” Word’. In The Ashgate Research Companion to Queer Theory, edited by Noreen Giffney and Michael O’Rourke, 1–9. Surrey, UK: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goh, Joseph N. 2012a. ‘Mary and the Mak Nyahs: Queer Theological Imaginings of Malaysian Male-to-Female Transsexuals’. Theology & Sexuality 18 (3): 215–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2012b. ‘Mak Nyah Bodies as Sacred Sites: Uncovering the Queer Body-Sacramentality of Malaysian Male-to-Female Transsexuals’. CrossCurrents 62 (4): 512–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2012c. ‘Nyah–Islam: The Reconstruction of God and Institutional Islam by Malaysian Male-to-Female Transsexuals’. in God’s image 31 (2): 33–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2014a. ‘Transgressive Empowerment: Queering the Spiritualities of the Mak Nyahs of PT Foundation’. In Queering Migrations Towards, From, and Beyond Asia, edited by Hugo Córdova Quero, Joseph N. Goh, and Michael Sepidoza Campos, 123–37. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2014b. ‘Fracturing Interwoven Heteronormativities in Malaysian Malay-Muslim Masculinity: A Research Note’. Sexualities 17 (5–6): 600–617.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2016. ‘Christianity, Sexual Diversity and Access to Health Services’. APCOM. https://apcom.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DiscussionPaper_Christianiy-2016.11.25.pdf.

  • ———. 2018. Living Out Sexuality and Faith: Body Admissions of Malaysian Gay and Bisexual Men. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2019. ‘Untying Tongues: Negotiations and Innovations of Faith and Gender Among Malaysian Christian Trans Men’. Culture and Religion 20 (1): 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goh, Robbie B. H. 2005. Christianity in Southeast Asia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goh, Joseph N., and Thaatchaayini Kananatu. 2018. ‘Mak Nyahs and the Dismantling of Dehumanisation: Framing Empowerment Strategies of Malaysian Male-to-Female Transsexuals in the 2000s’. Sexualities 22 (1–2): 114–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greatheart, Marcus. 2013. Transforming Practice: Life Stories of Transgender Men That Change How Health Providers Work. Toronto, ON: Ethica Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guy, Michelle Lee. 2003. ‘Ungendering Gendered Identities? Transgenderism in Malaysia’. Akademika 63: 69–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansbury, Griffin. 2005. ‘The Middle Men: An Introduction to the Transmasculine Identities’. Studies in Gender and Sexuality 6 (3): 241–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • heinz, matthew. 2016. Entering Transmasculinity: The Inevitability of Discourse. Chicago, IL: Intellect Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hendricks, Muhsin. 2013. ‘Islam, Sexual Diversity and Access to Health Services’. APCOM. https://apcom.org/2013/05/22/islam-sexual-diversity-and-access-to-health-services/.

  • Hero, Jakob. 2012. ‘Toward a Queer Theology of Flourishing: Transsexual Embodiment, Subjectivity, and Moral Agency’. In Queer Religion, edited by Donald L. Boisvert and Jay Emerson Johnson, 2:2: 143–165. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hines, Sally. 2006. ‘What’s the Difference? Bringing Particularity to Queer Studies of Transgender’. Journal of Gender Studies 15 (1): 49–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2007. TransForming Gender: Transgender Practices of Identity, Intimacy and Care. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2010. ‘Introduction’. In Transgender Identities: Towards a Social Analysis of Gender Diversity, edited by Sally Hines and Tam Sanger, 1–22. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holst, Frederik. 2012. Ethnicization and Identity Construction in Malaysia. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Human Rights Watch. 2014. ‘“I’m Scared to Be a Woman”: Human Rights Abuses Against Transgender People in Malaysia’. Human Rights Watch Report. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. http://www.hrw.org/node/129025.

  • I Am the T. 2014. I Am the T: A Trans Documentary. https://www.youtube.com/user/iamthetfilm/feed.

  • Irin News. 2014. ‘Right to Dignity—Barriers to Healthcare for Transgenders’. Irin News, 14 August. https://www.irinnews.org/report/100488/right-dignity-barriers-healthcare-transgenders.

  • Ismail Baba. 2001. ‘Gay and Lesbian Couples in Malaysia’. In Gay and Lesbian Asia: Culture, Identity, Community, edited by Gerard Sullivan and Peter A. Jackson, 143–63. New York: Harrington Park Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor. 2018. ‘Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor’. 2018. http://www.jais.gov.my/.

  • Jabatan Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan. 2014. ‘Jabatan Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan’. 2014. http://www.jawi.gov.my/.

  • Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia. 2015. ‘Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia’. 2015. http://www.islam.gov.my/.

  • Jabatan Mufti Kerajaan Negeri Sembilan. 2008. ‘Hukum Wanita Menyerupai Lelaki (Pengkid)’. Keputusan Mesyuarat Fatwa. 2008. http://www.muftins.gov.my/index.php/arkib2/himpunan-fatwa/171-keputusan-mesyuarat-fatwa/729-hukum-wanita-menyerupai-lelaki-pengkid.

  • Jackson, Peter A. 2003. ‘Performative Genders, Perverse Desires: A Bio-History of Thailand’s Same-Sex and Transgender Cultures’. Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context, no. 9. http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue9/jackson.html.

  • Jalleh, Josephine. 2013. ‘Transgender Political Sec of Tanjung Bungah Rep Hopes for Equal Treatment’. The Star Online, 12 July. http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/07/12/Transgender-Tajung-Bunga-rep/.

  • Jerome, Collin. 2011. ‘Queer Melayu: Queer Sexualities and the Politics of Malay Identity and Nationalism in Contemporary Malaysian Literature and Culture’. PhD diss., Brighton, East Sussex, UK: University of Sussex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, Katherine. 2016. ‘Changing Sex, Changing Self: Theorizing Transitions in Embodied Subjectivity’. Men and Masculinities 10 (1): 54–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Justice for Sisters. 2014. I Am You Campaign. https://www.youtube.com/user/mytransally/videos.

  • ———. 2016. ‘Media Guides | Panduan Media BM & Chinese Language’. Resources (blog). 18 March. https://justiceforsisters.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/media-guides-panduan-media-bm-chinese/.

  • Khartini Slamah. 2005. ‘The Struggle to Be Ourselves, Neither Men nor Women: Mak Nyahs in Malaysia’. In Sexuality, Gender and Rights: Exploring Theory and Practice in South and Southeast Asia, edited by Geetanjali Misra and Radhika Chandiramani, 98–111. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khor, Samantha. 2014. ‘8 Influential Malaysian Transgenders You Didn’t Know About’. Says.Com, 17 November. http://says.com/my/lifestyle/8-influential-malaysian-transgenders-you-didn-t-know-about.

  • Kim, Seunghwan, Margeaux Dennis, Jessica Holland, Mark Terrell, Marios Loukas, and Justine Schober. 2018. ‘The Anatomy of Abdominal Flap Phalloplasty for Transgender Surgery’. Clinical Anatomy 31 (2): 181–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitzinger, Celia. 2005. ‘Heteronormativity in Action: Reproducing the Heterosexual Nuclear Family in After-Hours Medical Calls’. Social Problems 52 (4): 477–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolakowski, Victoria S. 1997. ‘Toward a Christian Ethical Response to Transsexual Persons’. Theology & Sexuality 3 (6): 10–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kong, Travis S. K. 2010. Chinese Male Homosexualities: Memba, Tongzhi and Golden Boy. Hoboken, NJ: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • KRYSS. 2014. ‘ON THE RECORD: Violence Against Lesbians, Bisexual Women and Transgender Persons In Malaysia’. New York: International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. https://www.outrightinternational.org/sites/default/files/MalaysiaCC_0.pdf.

  • Lau, Alwyn. 2011. ‘Deconstruction and the Daring Church: A Brief Dis/(re)-assembling of Faith and Politics in Malaysia’. Asia Journal of Theology 25 (1): 24–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Julian C. H., ed. 2010. ‘Against the Order of Nature’. In The Malaysian Way of Life, 149–55. Selangor, Malaysia: Marshall Cavendish.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2011. Policing Sexuality: Sex, Society and the State. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2018. Women’s Activism in Malaysia: Voices and Insights. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Legislature of the State of Pahang. 2013. Enactment No. 11 of 2013—Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 2013. http://www2.esyariah.gov.my/esyariah/mal/portalv1/enakmen2011/Eng_enactment_Ori_lib.nsf/f831ccddd195843f48256fc600141e84/7a1794a47c1a932e48257d43000bf726?OpenDocument.

  • Legislature of the State of Perlis. 1993. Enactment No. 4 of 1993—Criminal Offences in the Syarak Enactment 1991. http://www2.esyariah.gov.my/esyariah/mal/portalv1/enakmen2011/Eng_enactment_Upd.nsf/f831ccddd195843f48256fc600141e84/3fedd97c89e2e8d3482576c500231b7e?OpenDocument.

  • Legislature of the State of Sabah. 1995. Enactment No. 3 of 1995—Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 1995. http://www2.esyariah.gov.my/esyariah/mal/portalv1/enakmen2011/Eng_enactment_Ori_lib.nsf/f831ccddd195843f48256fc600141e84/a24f10def0a59d1e4825761f00281c44?OpenDocument.

  • Low, Wah-Yun, Ee-Ming Khoo, Hui-Meng Tan, Fen-Lee Hew, and Seng-Hin Teoh. 2006. ‘Depression, Hormonal Status and Erectile Dysfunction in the Aging Male: Results from a Community Study in Malaysia’. The Journal of Men’s Health & Gender 3 (3): 263–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucius-Hoene, Gabriele. 2000. ‘Constructing and Reconstructing Narrative Identity’. Forum: Qualitative Social Research 1 (2). http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1087.

  • Malay Mail Online. 2013. ‘Marriage Between Muslim and Non-Muslim Illegal, Says Jakim’. Malay Mail Online, 27 September. http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/marriage-between-muslim-and-non-muslim-illegal-says-jakim.

  • ———. 2016. ‘Shariah Laws Already Affect Non-Muslims, SIS Says’. Malay Mail Online, 26 November. https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2016/11/26/shariah-laws-already-affect-non-muslims-sis-says/1258895.

  • Malaysiakini. 2011. ‘Transgender Aleesha Farhana Dies at 25’. Malaysiakini, 30 July. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/171502.

  • Malaysian Digest. 2017. ‘A Success For First Gay Iftar In Malaysia’. Malaysian Digest, 15 June. http://www.malaysiandigest.com/features/681176-a-success-for-first-gay-iftar-in-malaysia.html.

  • Martin, Fran, and Josephine Ho. 2006. ‘Editorial Introduction: Trans/Asia, Trans/Gender’. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 7 (2): 185–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellström, Ulf. 2003. Masculinity, Power and Technology: A Malaysian Ethnography. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minderjeet Kaur. 2017. ‘Transgender Wants NRD to Allow Change of Status in MyKad’. Free Malaysia Today, 23 September. http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2017/09/23/transgender-wants-nrd-to-allow-change-of-status-in-mykad/.

  • Morrison, Jean. 1995. ‘“The Circulation of Men”: Marriage Practices and Gender Relations among the Bajau of Sabah, East Malaysia’. Indonesia Circle. School of Oriental & African Studies. Newsletter 23 (67): 216–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nasrudin Subhi, Mohd Suhaimi Mohamad, and Lokman Hamid. 2013. ‘Potensi Konflik Di Antara Pegangan Islam Dan Identiti Seksual: Simptom Psikologikal Dalam Kalangan Mak Nyah’. Journal of Psychology & Human Development 1: 44–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ng, Chirk Jenn, Hui Meng Tan, and Sarinah Wah Yun Low. 2008. ‘What Do Asian Men Consider as Important Masculinity Attributes? Findings from the Asian Men’s Attitudes to Life Events and Sexuality (MALES) Study’. Journal of Men’s Health 5 (4): 350–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nonini, Donald M. 1999. ‘The Dialectics of “Disputatiousness” and “Rice-Eating Money”: Class Confrontation and Gendered Imaginaries among Chinese Men in West Malaysia’. American Ethnologist 26 (1): 47–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noritah Omar. 2006. ‘Colonialism and Malay Masculinity: Malay Satire as Observed in the Novel Kawin-Kawin’. SARI: Jurnal Alam Dan Tamadun Melayu 24: 107–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ooi, Vincent B. Y. 2001. ‘Globalising Singaporean-Malaysian English in an Inclusive Learner’s Dictionary’. In Who’s Centric Now?: The Present State of Post-Colonial Englishes, edited by Bruce Moore, 95–121. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peletz, Michael G. 1996. Reason and Passion: Representations of Gender in a Malay Society. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2006. ‘Transgenderism and Gender Pluralism in Southeast Asia since Early Modern Times’. Current Anthropology 47 (2): 309–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petah Wazzan Iskandar. 2018. ‘“Affirm LGBT Members” Rights, Original Identities’’. New Straits Times, 12 August. https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/08/400693/affirm-lgbt-members-rights-original-identities.

  • Peterson, V. Spike, and Jacqui True. 1998. ‘“New Times” and New Conversations’. In The ‘Man’ Question in International Relations, edited by Marysia Zalewski and Jane Parpart. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfeffer, Carla A. 2017. Queering Families: The Postmodern Partnerships of Cisgender Women and Transgender Men. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pragalath, K. 2018. ‘Transgenders: Don’t Discriminate Us’. Berita Daily, 7 February. https://www.beritadaily.com/transgenders-dont-discriminate-us/.

  • Pyne, Jake. 2011. ‘Unsuitable Bodies: Trans People and Cisnormativity in Shelter Services’. Canadian Social Work Review; Ottawa 28 (1): 129–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qarami Hashim, and Ashley Tang. 2018. ‘Nur Sajat Says Meeting with Jakim Was “Positive”’. The Star Online, 17 January. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/01/17/nur-sajat-says-meeting-with-jakim-was-positive/.

  • Qishin Tariq. 2016. ‘Media Guidebook on LGBT Issues’. The Star Online, 9 July. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/07/09/guidebook-on-lgbt-issues/.

  • Rasiah, Rajah, Abdillah Noh, and Makmor Tumin. 2009. ‘Privatising Healthcare in Malaysia: Power, Policy and Profits’. Journal of Contemporary Asia 39 (1): 50–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reisner, Sari L., Kristi E. Gamarel, Emilia Dunham, Ruben Hopwood, and Sel Hwahng. 2013. ‘Female-to-Male Transmasculine Adult Health: A Mixed-Methods Community-Based Needs Assessment’. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association 19 (5): 293–303.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reuters Staff. 2015. ‘Malaysia Court Upholds Ban on Cross Dressing by Transgender Muslims’. Reuters, 8 October. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-verdict-crossdressing/malaysia-court-upholds-ban-on-cross-dressing-by-transgender-muslims-idUSKCN0S21CE20151008.

  • Rowniak, Stefan, and Catherine Chesla. 2013. ‘Coming Out for a Third Time: Transmen, Sexual Orientation, and Identity’. Archives of Sexual Behavior 42 (3): 449–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowniak, Stefan, Catherine Chesla, Carol Dawson Rose, and William L. Holzemer. 2011. ‘Transmen: The HIV Risk of Gay Identity’. AIDS Education and Prevention 23 (6): 508–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Samsul Draman, Maliya Suofeiya, Liyana A., Farhani S., Jannah R., and Razman Mohd Rus. 2016. ‘Psycho-Social and Spiritual Backgrounds, Experiences, and Needs as a Transsexual: A Qualitative Study Within Persatuan Insaf Pahang’. International Medical Journal Malaysia 15 (2): 27–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schilt, Kristen, and Elroi Windsor. 2014. ‘The Sexual Habitus of Transgender Men: Negotiating Sexuality Through Gender’. Journal of Homosexuality 61 (5): 732–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seamont, Morgan M. H. 2018. ‘Becoming “The Man I Want to Be”: Transgender Masculinity, Embodiment, and Sexuality’. Boulder, CO: University of Colorado. https://scholar.colorado.edu/anth_gradetds/85.

  • Shafie, A. A., and M. A. Hassali. 2013. ‘Willingness to Pay for Voluntary Community-Based Health Insurance: Findings from an Exploratory Study in the State of Penang, Malaysia’. Social Science & Medicine 96: 272–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shah, Shanon. 2018. The Making of a Gay Muslim: Religion, Sexuality and Identity in Malaysia and Britain. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shahrin Yahya. 2012. ‘Through Their Eyes: Sulastri Arrifin’. FZ, 1 November. http://www.fz.com/content/through-their-eyes-sulastri-arrifin.

  • Shamsul A. B., and Mohamad Fauzi Sukimi. 2006. ‘Making Sense of Malay Sexuality: An Exploration’. SARI: Jurnal Alam Dan Tamadun Melayu 24: 59–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shazwan Mustafa Kamal. 2015. ‘Islam a “Wonderful Tool” for Political Mileage, Transgender Forum Told’, 4 January. https://www.malaymail.com/s/826523/islam-a-wonderful-tool-for-political-mileage-transgender-forum-told.

  • ———. 2018. ‘Wan Azizah: LGBT Fine as Long as Kept in Private, Not “Glamourised”’. Malay Mail, 20 August. https://www.malaymail.com/s/1664056/wan-azizah-lgbt-fine-as-long-as-kept-in-private-not-glamourised.

  • Syed Jamal Zahiid. 2013. ‘Human Rights a Facade to Destroy Islam, Says JAKIM in Friday Sermon’. Malay Mail Online, 18 October. http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/human-rights-a-facade-to-destroy-islam-says-jakim-in-friday-sermon.

  • Tanis, Justin Edward. 2003. Trans-Gendered: Theology, Ministry, and Communities of Faith. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, Jami K., Barry L. Tadlock, and Sarah J. Poggione. 2015. ‘Birth Certificate Amendment Laws and Morality Politics’. In Transgender Rights and Politics: Groups, Issue Framing, and Policy Adoption, edited by Jami K. Taylor and Donald P. Haider-Markel, 252–72. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teh, Yik Koon. 2002. The Mak Nyahs: Malaysian Male to Female Transsexuals. Singapore: Eastern Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2008a. ‘Politics and Islam: Factors Determining Identity and the Status of Male-to-Female Transsexuals in Malaysia’. In AsiaPacifiQueer: Rethinking Genders and Sexualities, edited by Fran Martin, Peter A. Jackson, Mark McLelland, and Audrey Yue, 85–98. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2008b. ‘HIV-Related Needs for Safety Among Male-to-Female Transsexuals (Mak Nyah) in Malaysia’. SAHARA J: Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS 5 (4): 178–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Commissioner of Law Revision, Malaysia. 1957. Federal Constitution. http://www.agc.gov.my/agcportal/uploads/files/Publications/FC/FEDERAL%20CONSTITUTION%20ULANG%20CETAK%202016.pdf.

  • ———. 2006. Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997. http://www.agc.gov.my/agcportal/index.php?r=portal2/lom2&id=1431.

  • The Star Online. 2016. ‘Nisha Dedicates Women of Courage Award to All Transwomen’. The Star Online, 30 March. http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/03/30/transwoman-nisha-gets-women-of-courage-award-from-john-kerry/.

  • ———. 2019. ‘Controversy Over Transgender Appointment’. The Star Online, 11 July. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/07/11/controversyover-transgender-appointment.

  • Tom Waddell Health Center. 2012. ‘The Transgender Clinic of the Tom Waddell Health Center’. 2012. http://www.twtransgenderclinic.org/.

  • Uthaya Sankar SB. 2013. ‘Kisah Seorang “Pak Nyah”’. The Malaysian Insider, 9 December. http://www.theinsiderarchived.com/opinion/uthaya-sankar/article/kisah-seorang-pak-nyah/kisah-seorang-pak-nyah.

  • Vignato, Silvia. 2012. ‘“Men Come in, Men Go out”: Single Muslim Women in Malaysia and Aceh’. Social Identities 18 (2): 239–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vijay, Aishwarya, Valerie A. Earnshaw, Ying Chew Tee, Veena Pillai, Jaclyn M. White Hughto, Kirsty Clark, Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Frederick L. Altice, and Jeffrey A. Wickersham. 2017. ‘Factors Associated with Medical Doctors’ Intentions to Discriminate Against Transgender Patients in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’. LGBT Health 5 (1): 61–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wan Azmi Ramli. 1991. Dilema Mak Nyah: Suatu Ilusi. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn Bhd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watts, Fraser. 2002. ‘Transsexualism and the Church’. Theology & Sexuality 9 (1): 63–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickramasinghe, Maithree. 2010. Feminist Research Methodology: Making Meanings of Meaning-Making. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilde, Dorian. 2010. Dorian’s Transition Weblog. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk8EJRJyV_k7_KMJVICR7sg.

  • ———. 2012a. ‘Why Label?’ Queer Asian Spirit E-Magazine (QAS E-Zine), 2012. http://www.queerasianspirit.org/16.html.

  • ———. 2012b. ‘Labels’. Potato Popstar: Resource for Transsexual Information in Malaysia (blog). 22 May. https://potatopopstar.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/labels/.

  • Winter, Sam. 2006. ‘What Made Me This Way? Contrasting Reflections by Thai and Filipina Transwomen’. Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context, no. 14. http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue14/winter.htm.

  • Wong, Kai Hui. 2018. ‘We Are Nothing but Scapegoats: LGBT Community’. Malaysiakini, 8 February. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/411519.

  • Wong, Yuenmei. 2012. ‘Islam, Sexuality, and the Marginal Positioning of Pengkids and Their Girlfriends in Malaysia’. Journal of Lesbian Studies 16 (4): 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeow, Julia. 2001. ‘“Women in Men’s Bodies” Struggle for Basic Rights’. Malaysiakini, 9 September. http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/4611.

  • Yu, Ting-Fai. 2019. ‘Reconfiguring Queer Asia as Disjunctive Modernities: Notes on the Subjective Production of Working-Class Gay Men in Hong Kong’. Journal of Homosexuality 0 (0): 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yue, Audrey. 2017. ‘Trans-Singapore: Some Notes Towards Queer Asia as Method’. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 18 (1): 10–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zachariah, Elizabeth. 2014. ‘Spurned and Abused, Two Transwomen Now Push for Equal Rights’. The Malaysian Insider, 26 September. http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/spurned-and-abused-two-transwomen-now-push-for-equal-rights.

  • Zainah Anwar. 2005. ‘Law-Making in the Name of Islam: Implications for Democratic Governance’. In Islam in Southeast Asia: Political, Social and Strategic Challenges for the 21st Century, edited by K. S. Nathan and Mohammad Hashim Kamali, 121–34. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuriah Abdul Rahman, and Norzaidi Mohd Daud. 2010. ‘Adverse Selection and Its Consequences on Medical and Health Insurance and Takaful in Malaysia’. Humanomics 26 (4): 264–83.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Arts and Social Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia

    Joseph N. Goh

Authors
  1. Joseph N. Goh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joseph N. Goh .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Goh, J.N. (2020). Prologue. In: Becoming a Malaysian Trans Man. Gender, Sexualities and Culture in Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4534-4_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4534-4_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-4533-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-4534-4

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation