Miss Tiffany, a good son
By William Sparrow
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JF21Ae01.html (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JF21Ae01.html)
BANGKOK - Although still old fashioned in many ways, Thai society has long accepted - even embraced - its lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgendered (LBGT) communities.
And unlike many Western or allegedly more modern nations, Thais rarely discriminate or ridicule. People who have chosen alternative lifestyles are acknowledged, some might say cherished, by their country. This is the story of one such Thai.
In yet another crowning achievement for the LBGT set, 21-year-old Kangsadarn Wongdusadeekul, better known as Nong Noeng, was last month crowned Thailand's Miss Tiffany - the title bestowed on the kingdom's most beautiful and elegant male-to-female
Although, Thai society is better than ours in that regard,
I would not say they don't discriminate. But, they don't
discriminate that much more than they do with women, so
its an equal opportunity discrimination ;)
It was only a couple of months ago (I think) that I read that Thailand finally stopped giving mtf transsexuals a pass on the military by branding them suffering from a mental defect. Having that kind of paperwork had really limited the job possibilities for a lot gals over there. Never did read on what they will do about the others who have already had the mental diagnosis put into their perm file.