Indonesian transgendered find refuge in Islamic school

[Shana A]

Indonesian transgendered find refuge in Islamic school

8 hours ago

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gH_DfDQmV1L6LtGF_IMqnBj1RsAQ

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Heavyset and wearing the pink Islamic headscarf and matching flowing clothes of a pious Indonesian housewife, 48-year-old Maryani says her penis is a gift from God.

Born as a boy and raised as a Catholic, Maryani spent years of drinking and selling sex on the streets as part of this city's transgendered community before discovering Islam.

Now, with her eight-year-old adopted daughter Rizky Aryani scrambling across her sturdy thighs, Maryani says her job is to bring Islam to her fellow "waria," as transgendered people are known here.

[Kaweah]

What a fascinating story - it certainly upends the current notion in the US of Islam being harsh and repressive.  I wish all the waria, and their teachers, the very best.