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  • Writer's pictureManushya Foundation
    • Jun 17, 2022

#Interview: Nada Chaiyajit debunking myths around the LGBTIQ+ community at the BK Magazine!



🌈 Nada Chaiyajit, Human Rights Campaign Advisor at Manushya Foundation & LGBTIQ+ activist, has given her thoughts on the myths and stereotypes about the LGBTIQ+ community that stubbornly persist in Thailand with the BK Magazine. She highlights that the myth of Transgender women is often associated with being sexual and seeking validation from men:


"'Transgender women are obsessed with having sex and being touched.' - This is a very bad myth because men feel like they can sexually harass us [...] "They think that when a transgender person gets her breasts done it’s because she wants the men to touch them, or when she gets a transgender surgery, it’s because she wants to be fucked. This myth just reflects the toxic masculinity in Thailand."


🌈 Sirisak "Ton" Chaited, LGBTIQ+ pro-democracy activist, Sex Worker Rights Defender, and Board Member of Manushya Foundation, also took a stand on the myth about LGBTIQ+ people around religious beliefs. Coming from a Catholic family, Ton points out the internalized homophobic beliefs rooted strongly in the religious process.


"My family is Catholic and always made me confess my sins. Religion is a big thing in my family and they would never tell me straight-up but talk about how the things apart from what God created—Adam and Eve, man and a woman—are a sin, and how I need to confess my sins"


Ton added, "Every time we try to push for marriage equality, the religious always get involved in the conversation—even though there’s no explicit teaching that being gay is a sin in the Bible."


🌈 Chitsanupong “Best” Nithiwana, Founder & Executive Director of Young Pride Club, puts the spotlight on the myth about Transgender people and transitioning process. People often believe transitioning process is accessible and also ties Transgender women up to the beauty standards.


"The media only shows transgender people who have already successfully transitioned. The representation in Thai society is limited only to the binary image that if you’re a transgender woman, you must already look like a 'real' woman to get media space, conforming to what the society can handle. But in reality, it’s not that easy to have access to these processes, especially for transgender people outside of Bangkok."


#WeAreManushyan ♾ Equal Human Beings 🏳️‍🌈


This is now 2022, and there are still many backward myths about the LGBTIQ+ community that need to be busted. LGBTIQ+ individuals are equal human beings as everyone. They deserve to love, be loved, and be respected regardless of their gender or sexuality, who they are, who they love, and how they act.


✊🏼 Manushya Foundation will always stand in solidarity with the LGBTIQ+ community in demanding and making a change in society to make sure we are all treated equally!


🔗 Read the full article here.


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