Stories
Siti
‘They always tell me to change and all that. My response is, “Okay, God willing.” Sometimes they like to bring up my mother: “Your mother is no longer alive. Don’t you feel bad for your mother?” I usually tell them, “Ha, it’s okay. God willing, if there’s opportunity I will change, okay. You don’t have to bring in my mother, Auntie.”
Siti, a trans woman, whose family members accept her, explained how she faces pressure from the general public, ‘They always tell me to change and all that. My response is, “Okay, God willing.” Sometimes they like to bring up my mother: “Your mother is no longer alive. Don’t you feel bad for your mother?” I usually tell them, “Ha, it’s okay. God willing, if there’s opportunity I will change, okay. You don’t have to bring in my mother, Auntie.”’
Source: Justice for Sisters. (2021). Freedom of Expression and Transgender Women in Malaysia