Becoming A Malaysian Trans Man

This book explores the fluid, mutable and contingent ways in which transgender men in Malaysia construct their subjectivities. Against the dearth of academic resources on Malaysian trans men, this ground-breaking monograph is rooted in the lived experiences of Malaysian trans men whose vicissitudes have mostly been hidden, silenced and overlooked. Comprising diverse age groups, ethnicities, socio-economic status, educational backgrounds and religious persuasions, these trans men reveal how they navigate life in a country with secular and religious laws that criminalise their embodiments, and the strategies they deploy to achieve self-determination and self-actualisation despite being perceived as aberrant and sinful. This book demonstrates how negotiations with constitutive elements such as gender identity, social interaction, citizenship, legality, bodily struggle, medical transitioning and personal spiritual validation condition the becomings of Malaysian trans men.

“Objective and compassionate, Teh Yik Koon has written not only about her research on which the book is based, but a work imbued with humanity, supported with hard facts and figures from thorough research. Her book fills a large void in sexuality literature particularly on male transsexuality in Malaysia. It demystifies the mak nyah who is seen, at best, as a deviant or an aberration of society, or at worst, a religious blasphemy. This book would not only benefit students and researchers interested in the issue, but the general reader—for instance, parents concerned for their transsexual children—and those seeking answers to the transsexual question.” Ong Ju Lin Co-author of The Rape Report: An Overview of Rape in Malaysia “The transgendered communities of Southeast Asia are little understood, either within the academic community or in the societies at whose margins they are forced to live. Teh’s study of the Malaysian mak nyah shines a bright light on the lives of people who, apart from growing up with an identity that fails to match their body, turn out to be much like the rest of us. In reducing our ignorance about these people, this book should contribute to reducing the prejudice and discrimination to which mak nyahs are subjected to daily.” Sam Winter Transgender Asia Research Centre, University of Hong Kong This book explores the issue of transsexuals in Malaysia. Through numerous studies, interviews with relevant parties and accounts from the mak nyahs themselves, the book gives a profound insight into the world of transsexuals—the history and definition of mak nyahs, what it means to be a mak nyah in Malaysia, transsexuals in other countries, and the views of relevant parties regarding transsexuals in Malaysia, among others. For those who seek a deeper understanding of the mak nyahs, this book provides intriguing and enlightening facts and accounts, which help to broaden one’s perspective of this community who form part of the diversity of the human landscape.

What does it mean to become religiously queer or queerly religious in one's everyday life? What narratives of becoming 'person' emerge from these lived realities? Sharon A. Bong addresses these questions by exploring the personal journeys of several GLBTIQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer) persons negotiating the tensions between living out their sexuality and religiosity in the context of Malaysia and Singapore. By sharing their stories, Bong presents a broad spectrum of queer strategies emerging from participants' narratives of 'becoming', which encompass becoming Asian, becoming postcolonial, becoming sexually religious and religiously sexual, and becoming 'persons'. These strategies are used in the book as counterpoints to nationhood narratives of becoming Asian or postcolonial, which are still mired in religious-sponsored and colonial-inherited sexual regulations. Finally, Bong shows how the insistence of identifying as both queer and religious is critical in challenging the conservative social-political milieu surrounding issues of gender diversity and inclusion within these south-east Asian states.

This book examines queer activism and queer social movements (QSMs) in Indonesia and Malaysia, broadly engaging with these topics on three different levels: macro (global and national discourses), meso (organizational level – activities), and micro (individual – the activist). The micro level perspective allows for moving beyond the “traditional” political movement paradigm by understanding activism in Foucauldian terms as the ethics of the self (Foucault, 1984). In other words, the queer subject is seen as an active agent in taking care of the self by queering/resisting gender norms as well as heteronormative practices and regimes in their social environment through embodiment and actions. This kind of ethical being has the potential to build support and community between and amongst individuals.

This book brings together a group of innovative scholars examining the contemporary issue of effecting gender and sexuality justice in the context of Asia, consonant with engendering a just, equitable and sustainable development for all. These grassroots initiatives are woven through three complementary sections of the book: gender justice in Asia, sexuality justice in Asia, and finding resolutions through conflict. The book foregrounds strategies that aim to call out and challenge existing gender and sexuality injustices with regard to women and the LGBTIQA+ community by: assessing the efficacy of gender mainstreaming policies through micro-credit schemes for women in East Java, Indonesia; proliferating the signifiers of the hijab (veil) by postmodern Malay-Muslim women or ‘Hijabistas’ within the consumerist culture of Malaysia; making visible the injustices of the Syariah legal system for non-Muslim women, and ground-breaking legislation that could potentially recognise same-sex marriages in Thailand; privileging the narratives of gay women diplomats within the highly masculinised field of diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region; foregrounding the narratives of Filipino gay men, intimate partner violence among young Indonesian Christian young people, masculine-identifying lesbians in Singapore, young LGBT people in rural Vietnam, and a Chinese-Muslim Malaysian female-to-male transgender person; and proposing new ways of becoming an inclusive church through the radical act of befriending persons living with HIV and AIDS in Southeast Asia. This book celebrates diverse and inclusive voices and strategies of gender and sexual agents of change in envisioning and bringing to fruition a just and transformative society for all. It is of interest to students and scholars researching gender and sexuality in areas of development studies, international relations, socio-legal studies, and literary studies.

This book brings together the narratives of diverse ministers from the Global South in order to show that queer theologies are impacting many parts of the world and queer lives are molding and enriching Christian ministry. Across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, we are witnessing the emergence of queer faith-based communities in very different contexts and with very different histories. The perspectives included in the book form a tapestry that honors diversity among the Global South’s queer communities and ministries. They demonstrate the various ways in which queer ministry challenges and changes theological understanding as well as religious practice. Each chapter highlights issues pertaining to liturgy, sacraments, pastoral rites, and the personal faith journey that each minister underwent to foster pastoral queer theologies. Contributors focus on their understanding of the relationship between faith and sexuality, how rituals relate to the daily lives of queer believers, and the struggles they face within the political structures of religious institutions. The narratives highlight some of the challenges and mechanisms deployed to cope with ingrained LGBTIQ+ phobia. They also evidence how communities enact interreligious and multi-religious dialog and rituals while honoring faith and activism, and how prophetic ministries counter oppressive discourses and colonial performativities. This is a valuable resource for academics and religious leaders interested in the study of queer theologies, Asian, African, and Latin American Christianity, as well as ecclesiastical and liturgical issues.

"This volume features academic commentary on the key magisterial texts that constitute the sources of contemporary Catholic teaching on the family. Although Catholic Family Teaching (CFT) emerged and has developed in parallel with Catholic Social Teaching (CST), its documentary heritage has neither been explored in a parallel fashion nor to a similar academic depth. This volume redresses this imbalance by collecting outstanding commentaries and interpretations of the primary texts and key theological and historical developments in a first of its kind critical engagement with the documentary tradition of CFT. Each chapter engages a moment in this tradition of teaching in order to invite critical academic engagement with CFT, a topic that increasingly bears weight across diverse areas of theological and ethical consideration. By offering a clear understanding of the tradition's growth in the previous 130 years, the volume equips scholars and students of theology to engage the pressing questions of our time"--

This book celebrates the legacy of theologian Marcella Althaus-Reid (1952‐2009), and her particular influence in Asia and South America. Her work has served as a significant source of inspiration to many scholars, ministers, and activists challenging heteronormative theologies, but her sudden death in 2009 cut short the nascent and elegant theological thought for which she so valued. Contributors to this book succinctly investigate aspects of the vast work of Althaus-Reid by discussing issues of gender, race, and sexuality in Asia and South America, utilising the liberation, queer and indecent theologies she espoused. Each chapter demonstrates how her legacy is alive and thriving today, but also points towards to the potential future impact of her prolific theological output. By highlighting the ground-breaking work of Althaus-Reid, this book will serve as a key reference for scholars of Liberation, Queer and Indecent Theology, as well as Asian and Latinx religions.