Justice for trans sisters in Malaysia
Gay Star News interviews Thilaga Sulathireh, a woman dedicated to helping trans women fight the law in Malaysia
18 January 2013 | By Anna Leach
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/justice-trans-sisters-malaysia180113The situation is bad for gay men and women in Malaysia, but it's really bad for transgender women who get constantly harassed by the police and their very existence is criminalized under sharia law.
Thilaga Sulathireh, one of the people behind Malaysia's banned sexualities rights festival Seksualiti Merdeka, decided to do something to help trans women. She co-founded Justice for Sisters in 2011, a legal fund for trans women standing up for their human rights against the authorities.
How did Justice for Sisters start?
We heard from a transgender woman from Negeri Sembilan [state south of Kuala Lumpur] who wanted to fight her arrest for 'cross-dressing'.
We spoke to a lawyer and they said we're going to need 10,000-20,000 Ringits ($3,000-6,000, €2,500-5,000) for the case. We thought 'what are we going to do about this?' But clearly it needed to be done. So we decided to form a legal fund for trans women and organize fundraising events.
