Part I Experiences of being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex in the Asia Pacific Chapter 3: Being transgender in Asia and the Pacific KEY QUESTIONS • Are there many transgender people in the Asia Pacific region? • What types of discrimination do they experience? • Are transgender people criminalised? • What are the types of violence directed at transgender people? • What is legal gender recognition and why does it matter? • Are gender-affirming health services a human rights issue? 3.1. INTRODUCTION Transgender people exist in all parts of the Asia Pacific region, though they may use culturally specific, traditional, indigenous or local terms to describe their identity.154 In some parts of the region, there is a long history of celebrating gender diversity, with transgender people given specific roles in spiritual, ceremonial or healing rituals. These roles typically recognise someone born male who embodies the spirit of a woman or of both sexes. In all parts of the region, transgender women and/or hijras, warias, metis and others who identify as a third gender remain the most visible within transgender communities. In a number of Pacific countries, there are local cultures that allow persons assigned to the male sex at birth to identify as women. Many agree that the term ‘transgender’ is often a too narrow concept to embrace the full-lived experiences in the Pacific cultures. The fa’afafine of Samoa, American Samoa and Tokelau, the leiti of Tonga, the fakafifine of Niue, the pinapinaaine of Tuvalu and Kiribati, the vakasalewalewa of Fiji, the palopa of Papua New Guinea, and the akava’ine of the Cook Islands are diverse gender identities that existed long before the Pacific was colonised and they are important parts of the cultural treasure of the region.155 Until relatively recently, transgender men, or those who identify on a trans masculine spectrum, were invisible in this region. However, in many countries in Asia, the number of transgender men has grown dramatically over the last five years and community groups have been established, particularly online. Yet their overall visibility remains low within both transgender organisations and in the wider community. In the Pacific, the term ‘trans masculine’ is only just emerging. 154 See Chapter 1. 155 OHCHR, Information Sheet, FAQs: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status in the Pacific, August 2015; at www. ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/UNFE_PacificCampaignInfoSheet-Aug2015.pdf. Chapter 3: Being transgender in Asia and the Pacific | 45