Thailand's lady-boys are in a class of their own, at last

[Natasha]

Thailand's lady-boys are in a class of their own, at last

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/thailands-ladyboys-are-in-a-class-of-their-own-at-last-967696.html
10/21/2008

Lithe, peach-skinned and demure, Arttasit is the kind of woman who
would turn heads on any college campus, except that he is not a woman;
not yet.

The 21-year-old catering student attends class in Thailand's Suan
Dusit University wearing makeup and a body-hugging female uniform.
After four years of hormone treatment, he is preparing for a full sex
change. "My goal in life is to become accepted as a woman," he
explains.

There are about 100 transgender undergraduates at this college in
central Bangkok, which offers the so-called "lady-boys" a unique
educational refuge from homophobia and discrimination.