Trans men in India are often made to feel invisible – but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist, and that they can’t thrive.
In 2014, India’s Supreme Court ruled that trans people should be recognised as a “third gender”, and that they should not be denied fundamental human rights.
However, some still struggle to access education, healthcare, and employment. In 2019, a law was passed to prohibit discrimination in these areas, but requires trans people to provide proof of gender-affirming surgery before they can gain legal recognition, something activists have said goes against the 2014 ruling.
The law also makes abusing trans people a crime punishable by up to two years in prison – but this is a much lesser penalty than those given to other abusers, and violence and hate crimes remain pervasive.
In many conversations around trans people in India, trans men are omitted. They are often invisible, and isolated – many are forced to leave their families due to the stigma and prejudice that continues to persist.
But despite this, trans men emerge strong. These three have earned prominent positions in public and private sectors, breaking barriers and opening the doors of education and employment to the community, to help them lead a life of dignity and respect that they rightly deserve.
Adam Harry was 11 years old when he took his first flight.
He loved the experience so much that he decided to become a pilot when he grew up. His parents, from the southern Indian state of Kerala, took out a loan to send him to a flying school in South Africa. But they were less supportive when he came out as trans.
“I was born in a conservative, middle-class, Muslim family, and growing up, it was extremely difficult for me to express my identity because I wasn’t even allowed to wear a pair of jeans at home,” he tells PinkNews.
“During my school days, I didn’t have the vocabulary to express my identity, especially in Malayalam, which is my mother tongue.”
“When I was in the ninth grade, I came across an article about the [2014 Supreme Court ruling on trans rights] and then I read more articles about transgender people in India. That is when I started exploring my identity and I realised that I am a trans man.”
After Adam came out, his family stopped funding his education.
Adam Harry. (Supplied)
“I was home-bound for a year, which was extremely tumultuous,” he says.
“My family believed that I could be cured and took me for conversion therapy.”
After this traumatic experience, Adam decided to flee. After one failed attempt, he got out of the family home on his second try.
“I got the freedom to be myself. But it came with its own implications. I didn’t have anything. But later, I found myself a shelter and worked at a juice bar.”
Adam was able to get a private pilot licence, and funding from the Kerala state government to finish his studies and get a commercial licence.
“The real struggle began when I enrolled in aviation in India,” Adam explains.
“I was forced to hide my identity during my medicals. They didn’t have any proper guidelines for transgender people and because of that I was declared unfit to fly for six months [because of his hormone replacement therapy].”
After Adam spoke out and shared his story with the world’s media, new guidelines were issued.
They state that any individual who identifies as transgender must have completed more than five years of gender-affirming hormone therapy to be declared medically fit. They must also pass a further mental health screening that all aspiring pilots are required to undertake.
Adam is closer to piloting his first commercial flight than ever before. But he will still have to undergo a psychological and psychiatric evaluation from an endocrinologist, and an examination to check if he has undergone surgery within a year of application.
“There are still many obstacles that I and so many transgender people face even today,” he reflects.
“Society needs to treat everybody equally, regardless of their gender, caste, or colour. There’s a lot of work that’s needed to be done in terms of the progress of the LGBTQ+ community in India. We need proper guidelines including education, employment, and health.”
Krishna Panchani, a government official based in Gujarat, came to terms with his identity when he was in the seventh grade.
Krishna Panchani. (Supplied)
“I realised that the sex I was assigned at birth didn’t match with my inner self – I felt different,” he tells PinkNews.
“I’ve struggled a lot to come to terms with my identity both in the past and even today. My family didn’t accept me in the past, and they don’t want to accept me even today.”
Tired of “being policed”, Krishna left the family home and eventually took a job as a principal in a government school in a remote village. But because of his appearance, he says, people looked at him “with aghast”.
“The people in the village would stare at me and talk about me. Some people also thought that a person like me would ruin their children if I taught them. When some officers from outside came for a visit, they said my dress code wouldn’t work because it didn’t come across as ‘civilised’. But, I decided not to give up.”
Tired of the transphobia around him, Krishna decided to confront the system.
“I read all the books about rules and regulations and I realised that it was mentioned nowhere that you had to follow a certain dress code. I took that and challenged them – and I won. The government accepted me and they said: ‘We see your work, the clothes you wear don’t matter.’ But despite that, people continued to talk about me behind my back.”
Today, Krishna says he has “good status” in society, with a good job and a loving partner.
He adds: “I am different, but I am not wrong. People need to accept us with an open heart and need to treat us like everyone else. Include us in the mainstream, don’t sideline us. We all have the same heart, then why treat us differently? We also have dreams, desires, and hopes and we deserve to fulfil them. If we get wider support, our struggles will slowly fade away which will in turn make our lives easier.”
Jay Anand, a musician based in Bangalore, had grappled with his gender since the age of four.
Jay Anand. (Supplied)
As a child, he would go to sleep every night imagining how life would be if one day he woke up as a boy.
“I was in a relationship at the age of 13 and that was my first time accepting who I am in front of another individual,” he tells PinkNews.
Jay socially transitioned in 2020. Before that, for the first decade of his career, he lost countless gigs because he didn’t conform to the idea of a “female-fronted act – someone who would doll up”. He also missed important networking opportunities because of his own inhibitions about being visible in public.
“However, over the years, I have become a little less afraid of being myself in front of everyone and having hard conversations,” he says.
Now, Jay is a successful musician – he even recorded a song for a Netflix movie,Looop Lapeta. He’s taken control of his own life, and he wants others to be able to do the same.
“We have had enough of allowing people to make decisions for us,” he says.
“Experts need to work in collaboration with individuals to formulate better policies, practices, frameworks, and healthcare for trans people — I hope for that change in the future.
“And it’s time we stop waiting around for someone to do it for us. LGBTQ+ individuals need to come together and make it happen. And I will tell you, this has already begun.”
Aditya Tiwari is an award-winning writer and queer activist. He tweets at@aprilislush.
Fabu Olmedo is so nervous about clubs and restaurants in Paraguay that before a night out she often contacts one to make sure that she’ll be let in and won’t be attacked or harassed.
Olmedo doesn’t know if she can go out in public safely because daily life is hard for transgender people in the capital, Asunción. Now, a new group of allies in Latin America is trying to make life better by changing minds in this socially conservative and often highly religious region.
Founded in 2017, the Latin American Movement of Mothers of LGTB+ Children lobbies governments to eliminate prejudical laws and better enforce existing bans on violence and discrimination.
It’s a difficult fight that will require patience and a years of effort but the mothers are working together to help others in their position, and function as a refuge for LGBTQ children whose families are not as supportive.
Members of the Latin American Movement of Mothers of LGTB+ Children during a march in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Nov. 5. Natacha Pisarenko / AP
“It’s all about recognizing the strength and power that we have as mothers to accompany our kids and help other families,” said Alejandra Muñoz, 62, of Mexico City. Her son Manuel came out 11 years ago and suffered so much bullying at school that he spent recesses with the teachers.
“He’s constantly at risk of being yelled at or worse in the street because of his sexuality,” she said.
Olmedo, 28, said that in July she was barred from an Asunción nightclub with her friends.
“Many times they let you in but there are violent people inside,” Olmedo said.
The Latin American Movement of Mothers of LGTB+ Children held its first in-person meeting in early November in Buenos Aires, where they attended the annual massive gay pride march on Nov. 5.
“Our main battle is to make sure our children enjoy the same rights in all of Latin America,” said Patricia Gambetta, 49, the head of the Latin American Movement of Mothers of LGTB+ Children, which has members in 14 countries and the goal of expanding to all the countries in the region.
The work of the mothers is often made more complicated by the enduring power of the Catholic Church, which teaches that gay acts are “intrinsically disordered.” The increasingly popular evangelical faith also often preaches against same-sex relationships.
There are stark differences in the acceptance of sexual minorities across Latin America. Argentina and Uruguay have been regional pioneers in marriage equality and transgender rights. Other countries in the region have yet to institute protections for the LGBTQ population.
Marriage equality became law in all of Mexico’s states last month. Honduras and Paraguay both ban same-sex marriage. In Guatemala, a conservative congress has repeatedly tried to pass legislation that would censor information about LGBTQ people. In Brazil, at the federal and state level there are bills and laws that either ban, or would ban, information about sexual orientation and gender identity, said Cristian González Cabrera, LGBT-rights researcher for Latin America and the Caribbean at Human Rights Watch.
And laws often fail to tell the full story.
“Irrespective of what legal regime a youth finds themselves in, prejudice and discrimination in the region continue to be commonplace,” González Cabrera said.
Vitinia Varela Mora said that her daughter, Ana María, decided to hide her lesbian identity after seeing other gay students bullied at her school in Tilarán, Costa Rica, which is about 124 miles (200km) from the capital, San José. She came out to her mother at 21.
In some countries, mothers who try to help their children deal with discrimination suddenly find themselves the subject of scrutiny.
Claudia Delfín tried to seek help in government offices for her transgender twins, who were facing bullying and discrimination in their school in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, when they were 16.
“They told me to go to church and look for a better path. They practically sent me to pray,” Delfín said.
Varela Mora of Costa Rica says it took her around two years to accept her daughter after the girl came out as a lesbian in what hit her mother like “a bucket of cold water.”
“There’s a lack of education, no one prepares you for this,” Varela Mora said. Now she tries to make up for that by supporting other mothers whose children have come out of the closet.
“It’s important for young people to feel they have a mom who understands them when they aren’t supported in their homes,” the 59-year-old woman said.
Groups of LGBTQ parents are “vitally important to show that regressive political projects do not respond to the needs of the region’s diverse communities,” González Cabrera of Human Rights Watch said.
Delfín said that she is one of two mothers in Santa Cruz who are activists fighting for their LGBTQ children. Elena Ramírez, Olmedo’s mom, also says that many trans children who are having trouble at home come to her for refuge.
“I’m a mom to all of them,” Ramírez, 66, said. “I know there are mothers that I will not be able to convince, but there are other children who really are in need.”
Gambetta says that all the mothers in the organization effectively end up training each other in their monthly virtual meetings.
“As mothers we have greater reach, we can raise more awareness,” Gambetta said. “When your family supports you, you’ve already won 99% of the battle.”
A trans royal reportedly fled from Qatar to the UK in 2015, fearing persecution in his home country.
According to leaked documents obtained by The Sunday Times, the unnamed royal is a trans man who escaped from his security during a family trip to London in 2015 and went into hiding with his girlfriend. He was then granted asylum in Britain.
The leaked documents showed that the royal told the Home Office that “growing up in Qatar has been the most difficult thing I have had to do”, because “I never wanted to be put in this body”.
He added: “I am born a female but was male on the inside. Being gay in Qatar is considered punishable by law and death. Qatar is extremely strict in Sharia.”
The leaked asylum application, which was reportedly granted in December 2015, contained an application for a name change, The Sunday Times reported.
Letters included in the Home Office application reportedly claimed the royal had been “depressed ever since I can remember simply because my outside never matched my inside”.
He added that he wanted to start a new life away from Qatar, “where I would have the life that I always wanted, which was to be a boy”.
He claimed that restrictions were placed on his freedom of movement by his family due to his identity.
“I felt as though my life had been thrown in the garbage. I never wanted to marry my male cousins like the rest of my family. I am terrified for what my brothers are about to unleash. I am scared,” the unnamed royal wrote.
LGBTQ+ rights in Qatar
In Qatar homosexuality is illegal, and being found guilty of same-sex relations can result in a lengthy prison sentence, while under Sharia law it is possible for men to face the death penalty if they are found to have engaged in same-sex intimacy.
Captains from seven European teams were to wear the OneLove armband but ultimately backed down. (Getty)
Former Wales captain Laura McAllister was asked to “take her rainbow hat off” – which was designed by LGBTQ+ football organisation The Rainbow Wall – before entering the World Cup stadium.
“I pointed out that FIFA had made lots of comments about supporting LGBT rights in this tournament, and said to them that coming from a nation where we’re very passionate about equality for all people, I wasn’t going to take my hat off,” McAllister told the outlet.
“They were insistent that unless I took the hat off we weren’t actually allowed to come into the stadium.”
PinkNews contacted the Home Office for confirmation of the royal’s story, which said it would not comment on individual cases.
A trans woman won a major Delhi region for her party during an election on Wednesday (7 December).
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Bobi won the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election after votes were counted this week.
The trans politician won Sultanpur-A ward against Congress candidate Varuna Dhaka by 6,714 votes according to Indian Express.
Her win came just hours before it was announced that the AAP crossed the finish line with 134 seats, winning against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The win means that the AAP now holds a strong majority over the municipal corporation, which makes up one of the three municipalities in Delhi, overseeing the region.
Voters line up to cast their vote in the MCD elections. (Getty)
Sultanpur’s new representative, who is often nicknamed Bobi “Darling”, has routinely said she would work in cleaning up the corruption within the MCD and “beautify” the constituency.
“I want to dedicate my victory to the people who worked so hard for me,” she said.
“I would like to thank everyone. Now I just have to work for development in my area.”
A long-time social worker, Bobi originally ran as an independent candidate during the 2017 MCD election, but later joined up with the self-proclaimed “anti-corruption” party.
She is also well known for her work toward improving education and social mobility in and around Sultanpur.
Her victory was incredibly close during pollings, with BJP regularly overtaking AAP multiple times before votes were fully counted.
In the end, BJP failed to win the constituency and the wider election, finishing with 104 seats according to NDTV.
Bobi’s win is a huge step for LGBTQ+ representation
The victory is another huge step for LGBTQ+ rights and representation in India.
While the country has many rights in place for queer minorities, it still has a long way to go in actualising true equality.
Same-sex marriage is still forbidden, despite routine attempts by activists to reverse the government’s policy.
Lead petitioners Supriyo Chakraborty and Abhay Dange argued that not extending the rights of marriage to LGBTQ+ couples is an affront to their human rights.
The inability to marry means that the couple cannot adopt together, nor can they inherit each other assets.
Additionally, it means that hospital visits for medical emergencies could be refused since the two are not legally recognised as family.
Lesvos rolls out of bed each morning before the sunrise, heads to work, then punches her time card at exactly 6 a.m. By day, she’s a chef at a traditional Korean restaurant in downtown Seoul, but by night, she runs South Korea’s first lesbian bar. The venue, Lesvos Bar, is located in a section of the Itaewon neighborhood known as “Homo Hill,” one of this country’s few queer-friendly areas.
Lesvos, who said she legally changed her given name more than two decades ago and is only known by her mononym, said her bar provides LGBTQ Koreans the type of identity-affirming space she longed for in her younger years.
“I want this bar to be a place for all LGBTQ Koreans, not just lesbians,” Lesvos, 66, said. “It’s my way of giving back to our community.”
“I will do whatever it takes for South Korea’s LGBTQ community until I take my last breath.”
LESVOS
Her bar may be queer-friendly but South Korea is not, she said. In a country known for itschart-topping music, visionaryfilms and comparatively robust democracy, only 38% of the public supports same-sex marriage, according to a 2021 Gallup Korea Poll. Discrimination, Lesvos emphasized, is everywhere.
In South Korea, national law provides no protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Same-sex marriage and civil unions are illegal. Queer students face round-the-clock discrimination in schools, according to a recent Human Rights Watch report, and same-sex couples cannot jointly adopt. In the military, consensual same-sex intercourse among soldiers is a crime, punishable by up to two years in prison — and all able-bodied men must serve about two years in the South Korean military as part of the conscript system.
On LGBTQ rights, South Korea is an outlier among the world’s wealthy democracies. In the 2019 Franklin & Marshall Global Barometer of Gay Rights, the world’s 38 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations averaged a grade of B. Only three — South Korea, Poland and Turkey — earned an F. Countries with an F are “persecuting” their queer communities, the report said.
NBC News spoke with South Korean lawmakers, human rights organizations and dozens of LGBTQ South Koreans in three of the country’s largest cities: Seoul, Daegu and Busan. Most say a bill that would outlaw discrimination against all minority groups — including the LGBTQ community — is the critical first step toward legal equality.
In 2007, former President Roh Moo-hyun’s administration helped draft South Korea’s first comprehensive nondiscrimination bill, but conservative groups like the Congressional Missionary Coalition immediately objected to its inclusion of “sexual orientation.” One petition sent to the Ministry of Justice prophesied, without any evidence, that “homosexuals will try to seduce everyone” if the bill were to become law.
Lawmakers have since proposed eight comprehensive nondiscrimination bills, but the country’s conservative presidentand legislators, as well as its powerful Christian lobbies, all but doom such bills in the Assembly, even though a majority of the public (57%) support a nondiscrimination bill, according to a 2022 Gallup Korea Poll.
But Lesvos said she is undeterred by the political deadlock. Defying the odds, she said, is the secret behind her survival.
At age 14, after revealing she had a crush on a female classmate, Lesvos was outed to her mother by a school teacher, who showed up at her home to share the revelation.
“She was postured like I was guilty or had just committed a crime,” Lesvos said of her mother. “I was so afraid. I wondered if I should run away — and I was only 14.”
The years ahead were not any easier. In her 20s and 30s, Lesvos said, she nearly lost the will to live, each day a barrage of discrimination, isolation and abuse.
“I couldn’t go a moment without alcohol,” she said. “I wanted to die. I thought I was alone, and I seriously considered taking my own life.”
Things changed in 2000, when Lesvos, then 44 years old, stumbled upon a small, queer-friendly bar in Seoul.
“I finally met queer friends,” she said, “and I finally got to be immersed in queer culture.”
A few months later, she cobbled together her savings and bought Lesvos Bar, which had originally opened in 1996, making her the single owner of South Korea’s first lesbian bar. In the spirit of self-reform, she dropped her given name and, henceforth, was known to all simply as Lesvos, she said. The name, as well as the word “lesbian,” derives from the Greek island of Lesbos, home to the ancient poet Sappho.
Lesvos has since assumed a second title: activist. Affixed to her bar’s taupe-colored walls are pride flags, rally leaflets and a command bestowed upon all who enter: “Pass the nondiscrimination bill.”
“Do we not have the right to live as equals?” Lesvos asked, her voice reaching a measured crescendo. “I wish the word discrimination didn’t even exist. But it does. It’s everywhere.”
‘Like a smoking habit’
Rep. Jang Hye-yeong, who was elected in 2020 at the age of 33, is a woman of many trades. The documentary filmmaker turned progressive lawmaker calls herself an advocate for this country’s LGBTQ community. Jang’s firebrand style quickly shot her to global stardom: She is now the face of the push for the nondiscrimination bill, and last year, Time listed her among the 100 emerging leaders shaping the future.
Rep. Jang Hye-yeong.Office of Rep. Jang Hye-yeong
“Just telling somebody that you are LGBTQ will certainly subject you to discrimination,” the lawmaker, now 35, told NBC News. “A nondiscrimination bill means no citizen of this country is subject to state-condoned discrimination. A nondiscrimination bill means nobody is left behind, and now is the time to pass the nondiscrimination bill.”
South Korea, she said, has both a national and international imperative to pass a nondiscrimination bill, adding that the lack of such a law “means that South Korea — an important member of the U.N. and an advanced economy — is not protecting its citizens’ human rights.”
Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the U.N. Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, told NBC News that even if a country has no LGBTQ-specific anti-discrimination laws, “that doesn’t mean it’s not subject to its obligations under international human rights law,” including the right to freedom from discrimination and violence. This, he added, “includes South Korea.”
While support for a comprehensive nondiscrimination bill is strong in South Korea, Jang concedes that the odds of one passing, at least in the near future, are slim.
Rep. Jang Hye-yeong holds a press conference for the nondiscrimination bill outside the Korean National Assembly.Office of Rep. Jang Hye-yeong
In the last election, Jang’s progressive Justice Party, which supports the bill, won only six seats in the 300-seat assembly. The country’sconservative president and People Power Party oppose a comprehensive nondiscrimination bill, while the left-leaning Democratic Party has expressed lukewarm support. But Jang blames the logjam on the country’s powerful Christian interest groups, which she said lobby against the bill and “LGBTQ people’s right to exist.” Lawmakers often avoid challenging Christian political stances to placate their base, she said.
The office of President Yoon Suk Yeol, along with leaders ofthe conservative and centrist parties, declined NBC News’ requests for comment.
Explaining his stance on same-sex marriage, then-candidate Yoontold Human Rights Watch that “although one may have the right to choose their sexual orientation,” South Korea needs “a careful approach to the issue because denying biologically assigned genders and recognizing same-sex couples could have significant social impact.” In May, a top adviser to President Yoon said“homosexuality can be treated,” like a smoking habit (he later resigned).
Protestant Pastor Yonah Lee, a staunch supporter of Yoon’s policies, is often called this country’s de facto “ex-gay” spokesperson. He has held events at the country’s legislature, and the former general secretary of the Christian Council of Korea called his work a “milestone to Korean history and society.”
Pastor Yonah Lee, center, leads an “ex-gay” march in Seoul.Holy Life
Pastor Lee acknowledged that discrimination against LGBTQ individuals is “wrong,” but he argued that the Bible “condemns homosexuality” and baselessly claimed that an anti-discrimination law that explicitly protects LGBTQ people would “force churches to close.”
Madrigal-Borloz, the U.N. expert, said the purported contradiction between religion and human rights is nonexistent.
“One does not speak the language of theology or dogma when addressing the human rights of persons,” he said, adding that South Korea is a constitutionally secular republic, and “there are limitations to the way in which one can expect their religious beliefs to limit the rights of others.”
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Asked how his stance squares with South Korea’s obligations under international law, Pastor Lee cited a series of biblical scriptures, then demurred.
“LGBTQ adults can live their lives freely in Korea,” he said. “So why do we need the bill?”
‘We’re feeling furious’
To YoonDuck Kim, the presumption that LGBTQ people can live freely in the country is laughable. “The pastor is wrong,” he said. “He’s so wrong.”
Kim is a bisexual student at Seoul’s Yonsei University and was the president of its queer student union last year. The club, Come Together, publishes a magazine at the end of each school year, which is typically filled with essays from LGBTQ Koreans on and off campus.
YoonDuck Kim is a bisexual graduate student at Yonsei University and last year’s president of the school’s queer students club. “We’re feeling furious,” he said.Courtesy Lim Beom-sik
In the spring of 2021, however, Come Together devoted its entire 240-page issue to the importance of a nondiscrimination bill. It was a notable moment for the club and it signaled that the LGBTQ community’s patience had worn thin, Kim said.
“We’re all asking ourselves, ‘Why hasn’t the bill passed yet?’ We’re feeling furious.”
He then explained how his community experiences discrimination: Same-sex couples still cannot marry, which blocks them from marriage’s legal protections, nor can they start a family, at least in the eyes of the law. South Korean public and private schools are “extremely closeted,” he said, adding it’s “typically unsafe [for students] to be out.”
A Human Rights Watch investigation published last year accused South Korean schools of “neglecting the rights of LGBTQ youth,” citing around-the-clock “bullying and discrimination, invisibility and misinformation in curricula, and rigid gender segregation.” In one poll of LGBTQ students cited in the report, 96% of respondents reported experiencing discrimination or bullying in school, while a second poll found 92% of LGBTQ students were verbally harassed by peers and 80% were harassed by teachers.
Jeon Il, a gay bartender from Itaewon, said the city’s small Homo Hill neighborhood is the only spot “where we can really be gay.” He added that a simple dinner date elsewhere is “basically impossible, because it isn’t even safe to hold hands in public,” and even at timesin Itaewon.
Jeon Il is a bartender at Always Homme, South Korea’s first gay bar, located in Itaewon’s Homo Hill neighborhood. Holding hands with a partner in public is “basically impossible,” he said. Courtesy Lim Beom-sik
Yoo, who asked that only his surname be published because of workplace discrimination, said he is forced to “erase the queer to act masculine” while working his corporate job in Seoul. “I’m afraid of what they’d do if they find out I’m gay,” he said.
Same-sex intercourse is not illegal for civilians in South Korea, but it is between men in the military. Article 92-6 of the Military Criminal Act penalizes “indecent acts” in any military setting with up to two years in prison — and all able-bodied men must serve about two years in the military. No law criminalizes heterosexual intercourse in the South Korean military.
However, there are some signs that restrictions on LGBTQ service members may be easing: Earlier this year, the South Korean Supreme Court overturned the conviction of two soldiers for gay sex, and last year, a district court posthumously reinstated a transgender soldier who died by suicide after being dismissed from the army.
Gender-diverse South Koreans face discriminatory challenges unique to their community. June Green, a trans male bartender and human rights activist, said transgender Koreans often struggle to find stable employment. The first digit of the country’s equivalent of a Social Security number corresponds to one’s sex assigned at birth, amounting to “forced outing” in any job interview.
Simple errands like grocery shopping aren’t any easier for Green.
“I have to make a deeper voice whenever I leave my house, and even then, people still approach me to ask if I’m a guy or girl,” he said.
June Green is a trans-male bartender, recording artist and human rights activist in Seoul. Since national law provides no protection from discrimination based on gender identity, “I often feel threatened to just walk on the street,” Green said.Courtesy Lim Beom-sik
Codifying anti-discrimination laws would not necessarily alleviate these concerns, but activists say it could catalyze additional protections, like same-sex marriage and joint adoption.
For Green, it could also provide an additional sense of security.
“Because we still don’t have an anti-discrimination law, I often feel threatened to just walk on the street,” he said.
‘So many lives lost’
Lesvos said her mom once told her that she would grow out of her identity, “but decades later, I’m still a lesbian,” she said.
But while Lesvos has persevered, she solemnly acknowledged that discrimination has exacted a deadly toll.
“I’ve known so many queer Koreans who killed themselves,” she said. “So many lives lost. Suicide is not the answer. We have to survive.”
She added, “I will do whatever it takes for South Korea’s LGBTQ community until I take my last breath.”
Jang, the human rights activist and politician, believes the assembly will eventually pass the nondiscrimination bill; she just doesn’t know when. She noted that a majority of Koreans in their 20s support same-sex marriage, even though the older generations are still broadly opposed. Lawmakers will ultimately share the young’s tolerance, she said, “and love will win.”
June Green said the undated promise to pass a nondiscrimination bill does not assuage his everyday sense of danger. However, he did acknowledge that things have improved for the country’s queer community, and he said he sees no reason to think that progress will cease.
South Korea has “new queer shows, and there are more and more people coming on the street for Pride. We couldn’t even imagine that five years ago,” he said as a small smile lined his face. “It’s really sensational.”
Kim acknowledged that the road to change might be bumpy, even unpaved, but he vowed to do whatever he can to “make the impossible possible.”
Asked how he’ll feel if and when a nondiscrimination bill passes, he said he’ll be both “happy and sad,” because he’ll “think of Choi.”
Choi, who used they/them pronouns, was an untiring champion of the nondiscrimination bill, an editor of last year’s special Come Together club magazine and Kim’s close friend. The two students would often talk about the burden of anti-queer discrimination, Kim said. Then, last summer, Choi died by suicide — leaving Kim and his friends devastated.
Reflecting on the fight for equality still ahead, Kim glanced at the floor beneath his feet, then began to speak to his late friend.
“We won’t stop fighting, even though you’re gone,” he said as a single tear inched down his face. “So rest easy. We’ll take it from here.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
LGBTQ+ Liberal Democrats are quitting the party after senior officials revised a transphobia statement to protect “gender critical” views.
There was outcry among LGBTQ+ Liberal Democrats and allies when the party’s revised “formal definition” of transphobia leaked online.
Days later, the party formally published its new statement during Trans Awareness Week. On their website, the Liberal Democrats say the definition was revised in light of “recent legal cases” which have brought “greater clarity to the interpretation of the law in this area”.
The new definition says the party rejects “all prejudice and discrimination based upon race, ethnicity, caste, heritage, class, religion or belief, age, disability, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation”.
While the statement says disciplinary action “may be taken against members who exhibit transphobic behaviour”, it also states: “Holding and expressing gender critical views, whether in internal debates or publicly, is protected by law”.
Members of LGBT+ Lib Dems, the party’s LGBTQ+ group, have told PinkNews that they’ve been left “upset” by the new definition.
PinkNews understands that some party members have quit the Lib Dems entirely over the new transphobia definition.
Liberal Democrats have ‘lost numbers’ over transphobia statement
Charley Hasted, vice chair of LGBT+ Lib Dems, told PinkNews that their group knew the definition was being revised and that they were consulted on it in advance – but their recommendations were ultimately not taken into account.
According to Hasted, LGBT+ Lib Dems advised the party to seek further legal advice and to consider precedents set in two cases which were decided upon by the European Court of Human Rights.
However, the party appears to have ignored their advice, Hasted says.
“We’ve lost numbers, and frankly, we have more members threatening to go over this,” Hasted says, adding that they personally know “at least three” who have quit citing the new transphobia definition as the reason.
A supporter wears a Liberal Democrats rosette. (DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty)
“I think anything from the party that doesn’t include a commitment to get the [legal] advice that LGBT+ Lib Dems specifically said they should be getting is going to lead to more people leaving.”
Hasted is particularly frustrated by the new definition – and the way it was released – because it came shortly after trans and non-binary party members had a meeting with Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey, where they talked about how they party could better support trans people.
“It’s this disconnect that keeps happening,” Hasted says. The whole affair has made the party “look awful”, they say.
It’s mainly one person. I’m not going to say who it is, but it’s one person who throws his weight around a lot.
“That’s not who we want to be in the party in the main. We’ve got a few people who are a problem and they are creating a problem, and it didn’t need to happen.
“We know that at least one of those members tried to push for the definition to go even harder than it did.”
In the end, they think the party tried to strike a “middle ground” between what LGBTQ+ members were saying and what “gender critical” campaigners wanted.
“It’s mainly one person. I’m not going to say who it is, but it’s one person who throws his weight around a lot.”
Much of the commentary on social media has focused on the decision to publish the revised definition during Trans Awareness Week, a decision Hasted describes as “shocking” and “appalling”.
They believe it was leaked deliberately in the lead up to Trans Awareness Week in a bid to “hurt trans people as much as they could”.
“The key point is this is being fought. There are thousands of Lib Dem members who are fighting this because we don’t agree with it,” Hasted says.
‘Pro-trans majority’
Gareth Lewis, chair of LGBT+ Lib Dems, still harbours hope the definition will be revised again in the short term.
“I don’t think anyone is very pleased about it including the people who voted to pass it. I think people felt it was something that had to be done,” he says.
Lewis says a new federal board and council have just been elected and that they will come into force in January – a move which could potentially pave the way for a further revision.
“There’s now a pro-trans rights majority on most wings whereas previously it was 50/50,” Lewis says.
“We’re having a lot of conversations with the party leadership involved in these sorts of things and I think there is a general feeling that this hasn’t gone well and that something needs to be done quite drastically to fix it,” they say.
Lewis believes the statement was revised in the first place because the party is too “risk averse”.
“I think that represents a big problem for our party,” they say, adding that the party is too inclined to “buckle” too quickly on issues it should stand firm on.
It’s not just grassroots members who have been left disappointed by the revised definition – some of the party’s most senior figures have also expressed their dissatisfaction.
Nobody deserves to be the victim of misogyny, homophobia, and in the same way nobody deserves to be misgendered or deadnamed.
Liberal Democrats MP Layla Moran urged the party to “listen” to LGBTQ+ people on the issue of transphobia.
“I share the disappointment of our trans siblings regarding the way the change in definition has transpired and urge the party as a whole to keep listening and trying to do better,” Moran told PinkNews.
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran. (Dan Kitwood/Getty)
She continued: “The Liberal Democrats have a proud record of fighting for all LGBT+ rights. We believe in the safety, dignity and wellbeing of every individual.
“In parliament we are campaigning for a total ban on so-called conversion therapy, including protections for trans and intersex people, and for reform to the outdated Gender Recognition Act.
“We will always fight for every person to feel not just accepted but celebrated and supported by society to lead fulfilled, productive lives – whatever that means for them.”
Cleo Madeleine, communication officer at Gendered Intelligence, said the fiasco shows the extent to which “the divisiveness of the culture war” has infiltrated politics.
“It’s not about saying, you have to believe a certain thing to be a member of a political party – it’s about saying, everyone has a right to participate in politics on an even footing,” Madeleine says.
“Nobody deserves to be the victim of misogyny, homophobia, and in the same way nobody deserves to be misgendered or deadnamed.
“We really hope that the Lib Dems, particularly with their chequered past on LGBT+ rights, stand firm on this.”
When contacted by PinkNews, a spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats said: “Following two legal cases that established new precedents, the party commissioned legal advice which was put to the federal board – the most senior elected governing body in the party.
“The Board voted in favour of the published definition of transphobia which was the strongest option available consistent with that legal advice. We will continue to support trans people within our party, through our policies about gender recognition which are clear, and through our independent complaints system which has zero tolerance for transphobic cases of bullying and harassment.”
Developing your first crush as a teenager should be an exciting experience, but for Beverly, it was terrifying.
The problem was that the person she harboured feelings for was a girl. Growing up in Zimbabwe, Beverly knew same-sex relationships were not accepted.
Like so many before her, Beverly tried to convince herself that it was just a phase, but a couple of relationships with men between the ages of 19 and 21 left her with no doubt that she was a lesbian.
That realisation was a painful one for Beverly. Homosexuality is criminalised in Zimbabwe, and public attitudes to queer people are unkind. She knew she could face violence, persecution and discrimination for being openly gay.
In the end, she made the painful decision to pack up her things and flee to South Africa in search of safety. Her journey since then has been at times rocky, but it’s also been life-affirming – and it’s allowed her to live as her authentic self.
Beverly’s story is just one that PinkNews is sharing this holiday season as part of the LGBTQ+ Refugees Welcome campaign.
Over the festive period, PinkNews is sharing stories of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers and refugees from all across the world. Some have found safety, while others are still grappling with harsh asylum systems that are designed to keep refugees out.
LGBTQ+ people have to ‘live a lie’ in Zimbabwe
Beverly had to flee her home country because she could see just how bad things were for LGBTQ+ people there.
She recalls how she forced herself into relationships with men from the age of 19 in a desperate bid to live the traditional life society expected of her.
After just two years of dating men, Beverly found herself a single mother of two children – and she was becoming increasingly aware that her sexuality was not a phase, as she once hoped it was.
Being openly LGBTQ+ in Zimbabwe is “very, very hard”, Beverly says.
Members of the South African Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community chant slogans as they take part in the annual Gay Pride Parade. (RAJESH JANTILAL/AFP via Getty)
“You have to live a lie. When I was dating this woman in Zimbabwe, we had to go around and say we were sisters or we were friends. You can never come out in Zimbabwe.
“The LGBTQ+ community in Zimbabwe, they have to hide. The moment they find out you are part of the community you are over and done with. I had a cousin of mine, she came out as a lesbian and she was sentenced to jail.”
In 2007, Beverly went to South Africa with her daughter and she gradually worked up the courage to come out.
Some of them thought it’s satanic, it’s demonic, that there’s something wrong with me.
“The first person that I came out to was actually my daughter. She was 14-years-old, she saw me hanging out with this woman. I kind of explained to her that she’s not my friend, we are actually dating.
“She quickly embraced me and she was like, mum, as long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”
Everything “fell into place” once her daughter had accepted her as a lesbian, although Beverly did lose some friends when they found out about her sexuality.
“Some of them thought it’s satanic, it’s demonic, that there’s something wrong with me. So I just ended up saying, as long as my family’s OK with me being a lesbian, that’s all that really matters at the end of the day.”
Life was good for Beverly until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which resulted in her losing her job in hospitality.
It was a turbulent time, but it led Beverly to get involved with the Dream Academy, an initiative which offers classes to those who need them.
After taking classes herself through the Dream Academy, Beverly was given the chance to run her own class on parenting.
“It has been nothing short of amazing,” she says.
South African human rights activists protest protest against homosexuals imprisoned in Malawi. (Nardus Engelbrecht/Gallo Images/Getty)
Those classes also inspired Beverly to rebuild her relationship with her son, who was raised in Zimbabwe by her sister.
“When I came out, he started rebelling, he would do graffiti in his room, he would spray paint ‘no lesbians in this house’.”
Beverly travelled back to Zimbabwe to meet her son face to face so she could talk to him about his sexuality. The trip was a success – they are now closer than ever.
Beverly’s refugee status was revoked
While Beverly has built a life for herself in South Africa, where she now lives with her partner, she still doesn’t have permanent residency.
When she first arrived in the country, she claimed asylum – but her refugee status was ultimately withdrawn when she briefly travelled home to Zimbabwe to visit a sick family member.
I’ve got friends and family back home who have to live a lie, basically, they just can’t come out.
When she speaks to PinkNews, Beverly only has a guarantee that she can remain in South Africa for a couple more months. She is hoping she will be able to get an extension.
“It’s not a day anytime soon that the LGBTQ+ community is going to be accepted in Zimbabwe, that much I know,” Beverly says.
“I’ve got friends and family back home who have to live a lie, basically, they just can’t come out.
“But for me I am out and proud on my social media – everyone knows – so for me to go back to Zimbabwe into hiding would roll back everything.”
It’s because of people like Beverly that PinkNews launched the LGBTQ+ Refugees Welcome campaign. The initiative is raising funds for Micro Rainbow, a charity that provides safe housing for LGBTQ+ people seeking asylum, and for OutRight Action International’s LGBTIQ Ukraine Emergency Fund, which distributes money to activists on the ground in Ukraine.
This holiday season, PinkNews is sharing the personal stories of refugees and people seeking asylum. The series will put a spotlight on the painful realities LGBTQ+ people across the world face that force them to leave their homes, from familial violence to anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
But that’s not all – the series will also show how a person’s life can change radically when they’re granted asylum. When they can get to safety, LGBTQ+ people have the chance to thrive.
PinkNews wants to show how living without the threat of violence or persecution can help queer people build beautiful, kaleidoscopic lives – but they can only do so if they’re given the proper support.
Please give what you can to the PinkNews LGBTQ Refugees Welcome campaign on GoFundMe. Through GiveOut, we will be directly donating to OutRight Action International’s LGBTIQ Ukraine Emergency Fund, helping the activists and organisations on the ground in Ukraine and surrounding countries to support the needs of LGBTQ+ people turning to them for life-saving help.
Our second beneficiary, Micro Rainbow, creates safe homes where LGBTQ+ asylum seekers from Ukraine, Afghanistan and beyond can be safe while they endure the UK’s gruelling asylum process.
On November 17, the government of Punjab, Pakistan’s largest province, banned “Joyland,” the story of a young man in Pakistan who falls in love with a transgender woman. The film, which has received both critical acclaim and popular praise abroad, is Pakistan’s official entry for the 2023 Academy Awards. Pakistan’s federal government had earlier banned the film for containing “highly objectionable material” and for going against “morality and decency.” However, the federal government rescinded its ban and the film was scheduled for nationwide release on November 18. Less than 24 hours after this decision, the Punjab government blocked the film’s release in the province.
Since September 2021, 18 transgender people have been reported killed in Pakistan, according to Amnesty International. Discrimination and violence against transgender people is common despite provisions in Pakistani law protecting transgender people. In 2009, Pakistan’s Supreme Court called on all provincial governments to recognize the rights of transgender people, and in 2018, parliament passed a law that broadly protects trans people’s rights. The Punjab authorities’ Joyland ban comes as anti-transgender rhetoric and incitement to violence have increased in tandem with recent efforts by some politicians to amend the 2018 legislation. In September, Mushtaq Khan, a member of parliament from the right-wing Jamaat-i-Islami party, said that the 2018 law, allowing self-perceived gender choice, represented a “danger to the family and inheritance system.”
Censorship and a clampdown on artistic expression undermines the basic principles of a democratic society and violates Pakistan’s international obligations. Pakistan is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression. Article 19provides that “everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds,” including in the form of art, or through any other media.” Free speech is also protected in Pakistan’s constitution.
The authorities in Punjab should recognize Pakistan’s diversity as a strength, not a weakness. They should take action against discrimination and violence against transgender people, not films.
A draft law that may be introduced in the Japanese parliament this month would prohibit doctors from providing fertility treatment to any woman who is not married to a man. The tentatively titled Bill on Specified Assisted Reproductive Technology, seen by Human Rights Watch, would outlaw artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization (IVF) for single women and lesbian couples. If passed, the law would legalize discrimination against single and lesbian women who wish to have a child.
Same-sex couples are not allowed to marry in Japan. In November, a Tokyo court upheld the country’s ban on same-sex marriage, citing the constitution’s definition of marriage as one between “both sexes.” In June, an Osaka court found the ban constitutional for the same reason. These rulings contrast with a March 2021 judgment in which a Sapporo court found the ban unconstitutional, describing it as “discriminatory treatment without a rational basis.” Despite the divergent decisions, the latest Tokyo ruling stated that Japan’s lack of legal protections for same-sex families violated their human rights and the Japanese constitution.
Until now, access to fertility services has not been explicitly banned for queer or single women.
Human rights activists Mamiko Moda and Satoko Nagamura had their son using donated sperm. In an interview with Human Rights Watch, Nagamura said:
“If this law had existed two years ago, we would not have our little boy. We want all women to be able to access their right to health care. Banning some of us won’t stop people from wanting a baby, it will just push it farther underground and make the process of acquiring sperm far more dangerous. This is not just an LGBT issue. It is a women’s health and safety issue.”
Japanese lawmakers should amend the bill to ensure equal access to fertility treatment for all women, regardless of their marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. They should introduce anti-discrimination legislation prohibiting future health policies that prevent single women and lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ+) couples from accessing reproductive treatments, and provide public information on paths to parenthood for queer and single women, including information on adoption and reproductive services. Finally, they should pass an LGBT-inclusive parental recognition bill that explicitly recognizes the legal parenthood of non-gestational lesbian parents.
Russian libraries are removing LGBTQ+-themed books from their shelves after the country’s President Vladimir Putin signed a law yesterday expanding the prohibition on LGBTQ+ “propaganda.”
The newly signed law effectively outlaws any public expression of LGBTQ+ life in Russia by banning “any action or the spreading of any information that is considered an attempt to promote homosexuality in public, online, or in films, books or advertising,” Reuters reported.
Four Moscow libraries have already taken action in the wake of the new law, according to Russian media. The libraries reportedly received a list of authors whose books they needed to make completely unavailable on shelves and online. The books include any with LGBTQ+ content, and based on another new law, any authors considered “foreign agents” or who criticize the war in Ukraine.
Putin first signed a law banning so-called “gay propaganda” in Russia in June 2013. The law ostensibly sought to “protect children” from any “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships,” as stated in the law’s text. The new law extends the restrictions to not just children but Russians of all ages.
The law has mostly been used to silence LGBTQ+ activist organizations, events, websites, and media, as well as to break up families and harass teachers. It has also been roundly condemned by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, the human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as civil rights activists around the world.
These critics say the updated law will further endanger the lives of Russia’s LGBTQ+ population, which has already suffered increased harassment, violence, and hostility in recent years.
The new law comes as conservatives in the United States are advancing a similar push for schools to remove LGBTQ+ content from their libraries.
Across the country, parents and politicians are petitioning school boards and proposing laws to severely limit the type of content kids can access at school. In some states, laws have been proposed that would criminalize librarians and other school staff if they don’t remove certain books from the shelves.
Conservatives have claimed these books are inappropriate or even pornographic and that parents deserve more control over what their children can access, even though many people in these towns have argued that books with similar heterosexual scenes don’t face the same scrutiny. In many cases, their fights have been successful.
