User:Ykcat/Kathoey

Religion
Bunmi, a Thai Buddhist author, believes that homosexuality stems from "lower level spirits" (phi-sang-thewada), a factor that is influenced by one's past life. Some Buddhists view kathoeys as persons born with a disability as a consequence of past sins. Using the notion of karma, some Thais believe that being a kathoey is the result of transgressions in past lives, concluding that kathoey deserve pity rather than blame. Others, however, believe that kathoeys should rectify their past life transgressions. This is done through merit-making such as "making donations to a temple or by ordaining as monks,".

Social Context
Kathoeys are more visible and more accepted in Thai culture than transgender people are in other countries in the world. Several popular Thai models, singers, and movie stars are kathoeys, and Thai newspapers often print photographs of the winners of female and kathoey beauty contests side by side. The phenomenon is not restricted to urban areas; there are kathoeys in most villages, and kathoey beauty contests are commonly held as part of local fairs.

A common stereotype is that older, well-off kathoey provide financial support to young men with whom they are in romantic relationships.

Kathoeys currently face many social and legal impediments. Families (and especially fathers) are typically disappointed if a child becomes a kathoey, and kathoeys often have to face the prospect of disclosing their birth sex. However, kathoey generally have greater acceptance in Thailand than most other East Asian countries. Problems can also arise in regards to access to amenities and gender allocation.

Employment
Many kathoey work in predominately female occupations, such as in shops, restaurants, and beauty salons, but also in factories (a reflection of Thailand's high proportion of female industrial workers). Discrimination in employment is rampant as many perceive kathoeys as having mental problems and refuse to hire them. For this reason, many kathoeys are only able to find work in sex and entertainment industries. These sorts of jobs include tourist centers, cabarets, and sex work. Kathoeys who work in the tourism sector must conform to a physical image that is preferred by tourists.

Kathoeys who obtain jobs in the civil service sector are required to wear uniforms coincinding with their assigned sex of male.

Education
Many schools teach students that being transgender is wrong and a form of sexual deviancy. Thai schools utilize gendered uniforms as well. In 2015, Bangkok University revised its uniform guidelines to allow transgender students to wear the uniform of their preferred gender, however, many other institutions still force transgender students to wear the uniform that matches their assigned sex.

Political context
Thailand's 2015 Gender Equality Act is currently the strongest legal tool for advocating for transgender rights. It protects those who are "of a different appearance from his/her own sex by birth" from unfair gender discrimination. Prior to the creation of the 2016 Thai constitution, people believed that anti-discrimination terms would be set for a new category called 'third gender'. This term, however, was missing from the new consitution and no protections for transgender people were specifically outlined. Instead, the constitution prohibited "unjust discrimination" based on differences in sex.

Identification documents
Legal recognition of kathoeys and transgender people is nonexistent in Thailand: even if a transgender person has had sex reassignment surgery, they are not allowed to change their legal sex on their identification documents. Identification documents are particularly important for daily life in Thailand as they facilitate communication with businesses, bureaucratic agencies (i.e., signing up for educational courses or medical care), law enforcement, etc. The primary identification form used in Thailand is The Thai National Identification Card, which is used for many important processes such as opening a bank account. The vast majority of transgender people are unable to change these documents to reflect their chosen gender, and those who are allowed must uphold strict standards. Transgender individuals are often accused of falsifying documents and are forced to show their identification documents. This threatens their safety and results in their exclusion from various institutions like education or housing.

The criminal justice sector relies on identification cards when deciding where to detain individuals. This means that kathoeys are detained alongside men. By law, women are not allowed to be detained alongside men in order to protect them from sexual harassment and abuse, however, since kathoeys are not legally recognized as women this law does not protect them. Within prison, kathoeys are forced to cut their hair and abide by strict rules governing gender expression. Additionally, they are denied access to hormones and other "transition-related health care".

Military draft
Transgender individuals were automatically exempted from compulsory military service in Thailand. Kathoeys were deemed to suffer from "mental illness" or "permanent mental disorder". These mental disorders were required to appear on their military service documents, which are accessible to future employers. In 2006, the Thai National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) overturned the use of discriminatory phraseology in Thailand's military service exemption documents. With Thai law banning citizens from changing their sex on their identification documents, everyone under the male category must attend a "lottery day" where they are randomly selected to enlist in the army for two years. In March 2008, the military added a "third category" for transgender people that dismissed them from service due to "illness that cannot be cured within 30 days". In 2012, the Administrative Court ruled that the Military and Defense needed to revise the reasoning for their exemption of kathoeys from the military. As such, kathoeys are now exempt from the military under the reasoning that their "gender does not match their sex at birth".