Torment of being different - Nowhere to hide from insults and taunts - etc

[Shana A]

Sunday May 1, 2011
Torment of being different
By RASHVINJEET S.BEDI

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/1/nation/20110501081640&sec=nation

The transsexual community are people too and need to be treated as equals in society.

Erin started admiring boys when she was 13 and wearing make-up when she was 15. This might seem normal for a teenage girl, except Erin was born male.

In harsh and derogatory terms, Erin would be known as a pondan, bapuk or akua. In more politically correct terms, she is a Mak Nyah or a male-to-female transsexual.

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Sunday May 1, 2011
Nowhere to hide from insults and taunts

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/1/nation/8587986&sec=nation

ONE of Philip Augustine's memories of being bullied is when he was about 10. It happened at his uncle's house in Manila, Philippines, when a group of adults comprising relatives and friends sat him down at their table and started asking him if he was a girl.

"They said I acted like a girl and sounded like a girl, so maybe I was a girl," he relates.

"I kept saying, No. I'm not a girl, I'm a boy.' Then they said, Well, if you're a boy then say it out loud. Shout it out. They then told me to yell out, I'm a boy!' And they made me yell it out over and over again."

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Sunday May 1, 2011
At the mercy of bullies
Stories by AUDREY EDWARDS

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/1/nation/8583164&sec=nation

One of the perils of being different and in the minority, like the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, is the tendency to become victims of bullying.

[...]

Then there is bullying of those deemed to have different sexuality and gender identification cultures the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

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Sunday May 1, 2011
'Awareness key to curb bullying'
By AUDREY EDWARDS

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/1/nation/8589018&sec=nation

PETALING JAYA: Increasing awareness on and sensitivity towards gender and sexuality are the first steps to reducing the bullying of individuals targeted due to their perceived identities, said a minister.

Understanding leads to compassion, which was essential when dealing with such issues of gender or sexuality-based violence, said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

[CrazyTina]

Oh my goodness. The second one brought me to tears. All of those stories are caused by a lack of education of youth, and the strict adoption of gender roles at infancy.

I feel so bad for all of the people of the world who struggle with any issues, but this issue hits close to home, and I feel that I can do something about it. And thusly, I put myself into action on this day and onward, to strive to make live bearable for your young boys and girls who are still too afraid to come out of their closets.