What do you think, guys?

Vietnam man''''s fight to become a woman
NTT is an ordinary looking man. Perhaps he appears a bit younger than his 35 years and a little paler than most of the local men.
But he is someone you would expect to see racing his scooter around the city, drinking with friends at a street side shop, or going football mad at the stadium on Sunday - the usual things a Saigon man of his age would do.


T says his life has always been a struggle
Only he does none of these.

His typical day involves locking himself up inside the house that he shares with his sister''''s family - watching television or writing one of his numerous letters and petitions that he then takes to the government offices.

All letters are short and to the point: T wants to have a *** change to become a woman.

"Since I was five or six and living with my parents in My Tho, I realised that I was not like any of the kids around," he said.

"My parents sent me to the village''''s school and when all the boys played football in the school yard I was always sitting next to the girls. I really wanted to become one of them. I wanted to grow my hair, wear girls'''' pyjamas and do the stuff girls do".

But T tried very hard to hide it, as he thought there was something wrong with him.

Most of the time, they think I am a pervert, someone who is obsessed with a sick idea


"My parents would kick me out of the house and my friends would reject me as well as call me bad names if they knew I was such a pariah.

"For a very long time, I was trying *****ppress my real person, to act and live like a boy, then a man. But the female inside me was always struggling to get out and I was really, really scared".

When he was 16,T left home for Saigon. He was to train to become an accountant and to live in the city with his brother and sisters who had moved there earlier.

Life in the big city, although busy and exciting, did not make his problems go away.

He had both girlfriends and boyfriends.

But he found he could not be with a girl as he felt as female as his partner.

"And I cannot be with a boyfriend either, as I am not homo***ual. I want to love a man, but only as a woman, complete with a woman''''s body."

Petitioning

That year he wrote his first petition asking for an operation to turn into a woman and sent it to a hospital specialising in cosmetic surgeries. He never received a reply.

T has been asking for an operation for 20 years now. He went to numerous hospitals with the request and the answer so far is ''''No''''.

"Most of the time, they think I am a pervert, someone who is obsessed with a sick idea," he said. "So they ignore me".

"Only once, at a major clinic in Ho Chi Minh, I was told they would do the operation if I could provide a permission from the Justice Ministry.

"I went to the city''''s Justice Department but the officials there flatly refused to grant me the permission, saying there is no such law in Vietnam".

Not only is there no legal basis, the concept of *** change is alien in Vietnam. It is usually associated with evil and decadent society in the West.

Just a couple of years ago, there was not even a Vietnamese word for trans***uals. There was a French derivative - pede - which means homo***ual.

The Vietnamese openly dislike homo***uality, because they think it is a vice. But at least homo***uals have their place in the society, however lowly and shameful that may be.

There are also transvestites. They are often mistaken for homo***uals but many Vietnamese actually find their way of talking and dressing up entertaining.

Trans***uals are a whole new species in Vietnam. Their number is unknown, their needs are not answered. The phenomenon is deeply hidden and highly illegitimate.

T soon found himself in even more trouble as people around him now knew his story. He could not go out of the house without being teased or harassed.

Drastic decision

The situation became more and more insufferable every day, and a couple of years ago, after a great deal of thought, T decided to resort to an extreme solution.

One morning, he took hold of a razor, and a minute later passed out with his ***** dangling by just a sliver of skin.


T says he will not give up his fight

He woke up in a hospital and begged the doctors to operate him and turn him into a woman since the damage was already done.

But they refused and decided to reattach his genitals.

"They did it without painkillers, while shouting at me for being a sick trouble maker. You can''''t imagine how painful it was. But I didn''''t die."

He said he will not jeopardise his life again. "Now I don''''t want to die and I won''''t give up."

The scar has now healed. Tien still lives with my sister''''s family. He is jobless and friendless and life is still extremely difficult.

"But an online newspaper in Vietnam has published my story. Maybe one day I will be allowed to have my operation. I still have hope that it will happen," he said.



<P><FONT face=Tahoma color=purple size=3>Im not ''bout <STRONG>lose my freedo''</STRONG> over no female</FONT></P>

Được Dj_voodool sửa chữa / chuyển vào 12:55 ngày 24/09/2003

The man is sick, but the sickness is of a bird trapped in a cage, having to lie to himself, the world, as well as being imprisoned.
To be completely honest, I truly admire his courage and character, to not lie to himself, to overcome, to win over his own self disgust and overcome all life''''s worst blows, to hold his head up high and say "I am not ashamed of what I want to be, and I will do everything to be free".
I hope he will receive his operation, and that people will start to see him for who he is, not for his gender, not for he was born as a boy and wanting to be a girl. they will like him for his hobbies in sewing, his knowledge, his conversation, and his strong, couragous character.
I wish him all the best of luck.

Doi la bien kho..

Được sil sửa chữa / chuyển vào 13:03 ngày 24/09/2003

Hic, How lovely you are, Sil!

Không có niềm tin không thể biết đến chiến thắng

Right decision, to be true to myself, and FOREVER HATE YOU!

Thank you both very much =) though praises as always, surprass me as I feel unworthy.
Thank you though =).

Doi la bien kho..

I''ve just read this article a few days ago in New World newspaper. Just like Sil, I think he was definitely courageous to admit that truth. What would you do if you were this guy??? I can say for sure that most of us will never find enough strength to confess we''re homo***ual Though many may find it immoral, I feel completely pitiful for those people since it''s totally not their own fault. Itâ?Ts a problem of psychology. Anyway, given that he would receive his desirous operation, he will absolutely have to face many obstacles afterwards. I wonder how he''s gonna survive in this world of rumors and sneer.
So close no matter how far... I have you in my heart and nothing else matters...