Trans*cending Tribulations: Malaysian Mak Nyahs

The term ‘trans*’ is an inclusive referent for all non-conforming gender identities, and challenges the notion that biological sex necessarily dictates and determines gender identity. Male-to-female trans* persons are individuals who are born with male genitalia, but who largely identify as women. In many parts of Malaysia, pre-operative and post-operative male-to-female transsexuals call themselves mak nyah, a term which they coined in 1987 to distinguish themselves from gay men and as a preferred appellation of dignity. Female-to-male transsexuals or transmen are significantly fewer than mak nyahs, and “constitute a minority within a minority” in Malaysia ... Read more in Goh, Joseph N. “Trans*cending Tribulations: Malaysian Mak Nyahs,” New Mandala (August 2013). Australian National University (ANU) College of Asia and the Pacific.