Trans Community Makes Slow Progress in Vietnam
By Helen Clark
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=108094 (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=108094)
HO CHI MINH CITY, Jun 9, 2012 (IPS) - The restaurant Thuy Linh sits by one of Saigon's black, soupy canals at the edge of District Three. Though operating in an area already full of restaurants and cafes it doesn't struggle for business.
Waitresses squeeze between plastic tables occupied by families and friends, continually dodging toddlers running in circles and screaming over the music.
Most patrons frequent the shop for the food. But there is something else about Thuy Linh that sets it apart from other eateries: most of the waitresses who work here are 'pe de', a common southern Vietnamese term for male-to-female transgender people.
"This shop was introduced to us as 'pe de' but we came back many times since the food's good and it's close to my place," said one female diner, looking up from the Mekong Delta-style hot pot known here as 'lau'.