- By Sylvia Tan –
After being verbally abused and asked to leave a club for a second time in months, a transgender performance artist and two other transgender women have taken a stand and launched a campaign to end discrimination against their community.
Marla Bendini Junior Ong, a 24-year-old first-year Art, Design & Media student was thrown out of a popular nightspot on Clarke Quay last Wednesday. And for what reason? She’s a transgender woman, and there appears to be a “no transgenders” policy at the club called China One and at several other clubs in the Clarke Quay area, a popular entertainment district along Singapore River.
Prominent transgender activist Leona Lo was similarly asked to leave The Pump Room, a club located in the same area one night in November 2007. She told Fridae at the time that she was called a ‘lady boy’ by a bouncer and had refused to show him her ID although it states her gender as female. Not one to back down easily, Lo who runs her own public relations consultancy and author of From Leonard to Leona – the first transsexual autobiography to be published in Singapore, went to the press with her offer to conduct a workshop on gender diversity for the bouncers and managers of the establishment. Unsurprisingly, the club did not take her up on her offer. Ever since the incident which was reported by Fridae and local mainstream media outlets, Lo said she has received numerous emails from transgender women in Singapore about their experiences from being thrown out of clubs to discrimination in the workplace and other areas of life.
Tricia Leong, a transgender woman in her fifties, was fired from her a graphic designer job in an advertising firm 12 years ago when she began transitioning (presenting herself as female). She hasn’t been able to find permanent employment since then and has to support herself with her savings.
The three women on Wednesday launched Sisters in Solidarity, the first-ever campaign in Singapore to end discrimination against transgender women, at a media event held at Food #03.
Last Wednesday, Marla who was with her pole dancing group – some of whom were hired to perform at ChinaOne but was herself not scheduled to perform that night – was escorted out of the club by a bouncer who told her that the club’s manager wanted to speak to her outside. As the manager did not show up, she reentered the club although she was stopped by the bouncer. Despite her studio director’s intervention and explanation that she’s part of the group, the bouncers were adamant that she left the club. That was the second occasion she was asked to leave; a similar incident involving the same club occurred in September last year.
Upon her exit, she found the club managers in a heated argument. The club’s senior manager who was identified by Marla as Lawrence started to yell at her and said that she should not step into ChinaOne again. (Read Marla’s account here.)
Although Lawrence of ChinaOne did not respond to Lo’s invitation to share his side of the story at the press conference, he responded to her email yesterday saying that it is one of his club’s policies that it does not allow “transgenders especially on our ladies night, provided that their change is reflected in their photo ID card” which means to say that pre-operative transgender women are barred from his club. In Singapore, only post-operative transgenders can have their ‘new’ gender reflected in their identity cards (but not their birth certificates) and passports.
“What is alarming is the club operators are targeting transgender women at random and verbally abusing, publicly humiliating and throwing out those they perceive as transgender, based on physical attributes such as large hands, angular jaw lines, low voices and other such stereotypical assumptions. When in doubt, they then use the gender status on the identity card as a crude measure of ‘acceptability’ and as a passport to entry.” Lo, a Founding Working Group member of the Asia-Pacific Transgender Network, said in a statement.
Should the clubs decide to continue to bar pre-operative transgender women and require transgender women to show their IDs to prove their ‘status’, Lo demands that they publicise their door policy so that patrons (both transgender and non) can make informed decisions about the establishments they patronise.
“If you choose to discriminate against transgender women, be brave enough to post a sign, publish it prominently on your door, so people can choose whether they want to support your club,” she told the roomful of reporters.
Lo has since also written to the CapitaLand, which owns and manages Clarke Quay, to ask that they investigate the incidents and to end the discriminatory practices.
ChinaOne and CapitaLand did not respond to emails from Fridae by the time of publication.
————-
Social enterprise initiative
Organisers also announced the launch of a social enterprise project where companies can log on to endtransgenderdiscrimination.wordpress.com to view a listing of professional services by transgender women. Lo says she hopes for the project serves as a “platform for supportive employers to engage the services of and even recruit transgender women who may otherwise find it difficult to find employment by virtue of their gender identity.”
Sisters in Solidarity activities 2010
SIS petition
Organisers aim to collect 1,000 signatures for their petition that calls for an end to all forms of discrimination against transgender women in Singapore. The petition and a cover letter will be sent to any organisation/institution reported to have discriminated against transgender women here.
Date: Sat, May 8, 2010
Time: 2 to 6pm
Venue: Food #03, 107+109 Rowell Road
Fundraising
As the campaign is currently funded by the organisers, 1,000 Sisters in Solidarity badges designed by Marla will be available for sale at Food #03, Rowell Road at $2 each. All proceeds after production costs will fund future SIS activities. Part of the proceeds will be donated to Post-Museum (which operates Food #03).
Exhibition: Conversations between father and son by Marla Bendini
Conversations is a multimedia installation performance with paintings, paying tribute to the artist’s late father.
At the opening on May 13, the host will deliver the address followed by a performance by Marla Bendini after the reception. There will be a sale of SIS collaterals. Action for AIDS will also support with collaterals for HIV and AIDS awareness.
Opening Reception
Date: May 13, 2010
Time: 6.30pm til late, performance by Marla Bendini 7.30pm
Venue: The Substation Gallery
Exhibition runs from 13-22 May 12pm-9pm daily
SISter Carnival/Flea-market
Details to be confirmed/announced soon.
————-
Sylvia Tan is the editor of Fridae.com, Asia’s largest gay and
lesbian website.
The article is republished with permission.
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I have only one word for you, YOU’d better WORK it girls !
Actually… I was wondering what kind of criteria AWARE has on transgendered women? Does they qualify for ‘help’ before their sex change operation?
I don’t like this idea of transgender girls going public…
Piso,
[I don’t like this idea of transgender girls going public…]
so?
If I don’t like type C of people, they should not go public? (whatever going public means)
Everything depends on individual likes and preferences?
What is a transgender woman? I thought a transgender is a transgender, never mind man or woman, since they themselves do not know which is which?
Come on lah! Trying to pass yourself off as women to enjoy ladies night benefits.
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You should go set up a gay bar instead of SIS.
Trying to be fair-minded, I checked their website.
What caught my attention was “The rights of transgender women, indeed, of everyone are enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is also enshrined in Singapore’s constitution”
If I am not mistaken, Singapore was never a signatory of the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights. Also, since when has the MIW respected/followed Singapore’s constitution which is a remnant of the British era.
It is just unfortunate, majority of people will see them as Transgender first and a person second.
gemami,
I believe the gender stated after ‘transgender’ refers to the end state. i.e
transgender woman = man to WOMAN
transgender man = woman to MAN.
test
[b]test[/b]
test
On another note:
Marla look very swee. Much better looking than Ris Low.
Incred,
Ris Low’s not too bad.. as long as she doesn’t speak. I cringed when she had her stint on radio, and I had the misfortune of overhearing it.
Lobo76:
Ris isn’t too bad, as long as she doesn’t go on yet another attention seizing stunt.
Mythbuster:
Ris isn’t too bad, as long as she lose some weight. Her shoulders look like it’s retaining water…
Not a matter of discrimination.
how to distinguish a ladyboy with a transgender women?
If transgender women can answer the above question, then we discuss about discrimination.
Society has the rights to protect REAL WOMEN.
Is this being publicised on Facebook? You should start a FB page for this event.
Singapore is a very Homophobic nation that needs to change its general attitude towards this matter.
This is outright discrimination and it should be highly frowned upon and completely discouraged. It is absolutely worthless and ironic to preach and boast about our racial harmony when we exercise such poor sexuality harmony.
To S Gary
IMHO, we should see them as a person first.
And as a person, they have every right as a human being.
I think our society can get too judgemental sometimes. I don’t think it was an easy choice for them to finally take the courage and live as truly what they are, rather than trying to fake themselves to live within what society deems as normal.
Unfortunately, our laws are too antiquated to deal with such issues and provide them with the proper rights.
OH NO!!,here we go again.IF you guys like Lobo76 and Mythbuster are reading my posts,i hope you understand by now why i am so afraid of losing my freedom to choose the way i want to conduct my business,or how i want to raise my family.Who is now trying to impose their values and life-styles on others.There are many other entertainment venues that welcome you,why do you want to insist on entering into that particular place.I am been barred from going into a high class restaurant just because i have only a shirt and short on me.Should i raise hell over that incident.
Hey Incred, well said. This is about every person’s right. Every person who feels marginalised and bullied reserve the right to speak up.
We learn more about the discrimination and hurt that a transgendered woman face. I know it is difficult for the sisters to come forward to share their stories.
I am very proud of this effort to speak up, go public and seek for ‘justice’.
So seriously(S. Gary and Piso), how do you think they should react? I think going public is the right thing to do.
Ris Low is a real women and she did win the Miss Singapore pageant until she surrendered it later.
-
there were enough people, males and females who had judged her the best among the women who competed for the pageant title.
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Lobo76,
-
You have a very good point describing ‘transgender’ as the end stage. Unfortunately, they failed to understand the difference they pose to mainstrean establishments, which mostly describes one gender by his or her beginning stage of life.
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To have this changed and then demand the benefits accorded to those who are females by birth, is asking for trouble, to say the least.
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Why must they try to get in on ladies night knowing that their ICs still show they are males?
gemami,
To have this changed and then demand the benefits accorded to those who are females by birth, is asking for trouble, to say the least.
Why? Kindly elaborate.
In any case, I didn’t read, in any part of the article, that they wanted to not pay the entry fee. They were just barred. It was not mentioned if they were given the option to pay to enter. That, imo, would be justifiable, since their IC still states them as male.
Bak Kua
Ah Kua
what is the difference??
“…one of his club’s policies that it does not allow “transgenders especially on our ladies night, provided that their change is reflected in their photo ID card…”
-
Why do you think pre-trangenders insist on being allowed into pubs on ladies night, to be the males that they officially are?
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Either they are naughty or they are trying to be cute.
Gemami:
They weren’t trying to get in free on Ladies Night. They paid to enter the club and paid for their drinks. In one case, her company was performing there, but she was kicked out. Fortunately, her employer took her side and stopped business with the club.
Please note that this has nothing to do with their actual legal status. One of them was kicked out even though she was legally female in her IC.
(I do think every establishment has the right to reserve service, but having the right doesn’t mean they are doing the right thing.)
Gary: How is supporting kicking transgender women out of an entertainment establishment protecting the rights of “real women”?
These entertainment establishments already discriminate against born women who are older, not pretty, or look butchy. You have seen it in the news already. Will you support a campaign to end discrimination against aunties… or your “real women” only includes the young pretty things?
Clarification,
Thanks you for the clarification. (haha.. becomes a pun)
I do think every establishment has the right to reserve service, but having the right doesn’t mean they are doing the right thing.
This is debatable. If a shop were to ‘reserve service’ to only Chinese, do you think it has the ‘right’ to do so?
Being a devil’s advocate this time:
The manager of the club mishandled it very bad. But, he probably did not want his club to be taken advantage of by men dressed as women and getting free drinks on ladies’ night. The idea of a ladies’ night was to attract attractive ladies with free drinks who in turn will attract horny men who have to pay for their own drinks in a slow weekday.
Competition between clubs and bars are very high, and their success owes to fickle-minded people who patronise the clubs and bars like fads…and like fads, people can lose interest in them easily.
The club manager’s shortsightedness or unwillingness to understand the actual situation, probably caused his club more harm than good. But knowing Singaporeans with their ‘goldfish’ memory; this incident will soon be forgotten.
A better club or bar manager, should stop aping other clubs and be more creative in attracting paid patrons. This incident has shown that the managers of the club patronised by Marla and her friends do not have the level of maturity to be managers in the first place.
To lobo76:
I don’t know leh…Ris Low seem to have water retention problem…Her face and body seem to have ballooned out of proportion nowadays. :-P
Clarification and Lobo76,
-
I have my doubt over the article. There are sides to it that we did not get to hear, but by putting them together, there is no doubt whatsoever that we are hearing only half the story.
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It makes no sense for a company to engage one group of transgenders to perform and then to disallow another group from entering the pub.
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The pub bouncers are not medically trained or certified to have the expertise to determine who is male and who is female by looking at dress sense.
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He does this by checking the most obvious document available, the identity card.
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What do you think he should do when he sees ‘Male’ on it?
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Also, there must be a reason why he had to check the ID cards in the first place, right?
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He has to make sure the dress code and sex code for the night are observed. Why?
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I am not so sure they did not demand ‘girl’ privileges.
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These are not ambiguous terms opened for challenge. These are terms specific to the business of the day.
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There are too many things about the article that do not add up.
They should start their own club or move to Thailand.
I think its high time that we appreciate that, in nature things are not always black or white. In fact, there is in nature no pure black and pure white. While there is night and day, some nights are darker than other, some days brigher, and there are also various shades of dusk and dawn.
Males have some estrogen in them and females have some testosterone. Some women are more “feminine”, and some men are more macho. With these shades of grey, it’s just a comfortable delusion that we can neatly draw a line.
If any establishment, commercial or otherwise, is allowed to discriminate, where will this lead us? Would you as a man like to be denied entrance for not being man enough, or as a woman, for not being feminine enough?
Gemami,
It makes no sense for a company to engage one group of transgenders to perform and then to disallow another group from entering the pub.
I think you’ve made an assumption here that the pole dancing is consists wholly of transgendered women. The article doesn’t say it one way or the other, hence it might be a group of ‘regular’ women, with one exception.
-
He has to make sure the dress code and sex code for the night are observed. Why?
Dress code so that one is not underdressed, I can understand. What is ‘sex code’? Is it a bar/club industry terminology?
Regardless, I think you are still harping on the assumption that the transgendered women are trying to avoid paying entrance fees. Having not established things one way or the other, is it fair to continue?
You also somehow skipped the fact that at least one of them DO have ‘Female’ on her IC, even as you pointed out that bouncers are not specialists and had to check ID. In this case, what is your stand if she were to demand ‘girl’ privileges?
johnny,
Would you as a man like to be denied entrance for not being man enough, or as a woman, for not being feminine enough?
I seem to have read something like this somewhere… the woman who isn’t feminine enough and not allowed into a club/bar…
can’t find the article though.
To CLARIFICATION,
From your response, I believe you are one of the trio that form SIS.
If that’s the case, first and foremost, I applaud you gals for your belief and tenacity. The world is harsh, it is never easy staying alive. Even females are subjected to discriminatory treatment and practices, let alone transgenders. I can understand your predicament.
And as a closeted gay man myself, I constantly have to struggle with the duplicity within, acting straight infront of friends/collegues, yet yearning for companianship with the same gender.
Notwithstanding, I do have to say that it will be better to let our conservative society matures itself to accept genders beyond the so-called norm. It will take some time, we are afterall, yet to be in a true liberised state.
Also, we have to respect the “business decisions” of private businesses. Afterall, as some forumner commented here, ladies night are indeed to attract men (supposedly bigger spenders) who are seeking opposite sex. Businesses are to make money, first and foremost, unless they are charities. They are also countless outlets here that are “gay-friendly”, which I assume you’d already know. So, why fight the goliath ?
Just my two cents worth. Take care.
Jonny,
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It difficult to follow your sense of ‘logic’. Agreed there is no pure shades of black or white, day or night , dusk or dawn but at one look one can still tell that they are definitely either a darker or lighter shade of black and white, day or night, dusk or dawn.
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This is so different from what is happening here. A group of queer (in the sense that you have described) people claiming to be day when they are night, white when they are black, dusk when they are dawn, and then getting all frustrated because someone else does not believe what they say they are.
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How can this be discrimination? It is different when a man is told he is not man, and a woman not a woman. This is discrimination.
ok ok all are equal..here is a coke bottle…try pissin in it without wettin on the coke bottle exterior..
fair enuff?
Good grief!
…next thing we will have people asking for equal rights for Trans-species individuals
Woof Woof !
@gemami
The point is, who is to decide, when is a man a man? Or a woman a woman? You? The bouncer? Should there be body frisking at the entrance of the club? DNA testing? Even then you cannot get a definitive answer: there are people with XXY chromosomes. What about them? There are natural bearded ladies, what about them? There are men who, in the judgment of others, may not pass as men, what about them? How on earth do you propose to draw the line? Why can’t we just let in one and all, live and let live?
And, closer to my earlier point, who says any way there are only 2 sexes? God? Well, I don’t believe in God. Who else is the final authority? Why should people suffer when they don’t fit neatly into the 2 categories?
Why can’t we just treat everybody as humans? Is not as though you are required to mate with one of these people of the middle sex, so leave them be!
I am not one of the transgender women in this article.
A few years ago, my aunt got cancer. Because of her treatment, she lose all female shape and look very guy-like. People treated her badly and keep making her show her IC to ‘prove’ she is female!
Why would they treat her badly and insult/humiliate her if they didn’t discriminate against transgender women in the first place? What is to stop these discrminators from targeting sick old aunties just because they don’t like how the old auntie looks?
This is not white is white, black is black. This is someone decides that black must be bullied, and he decides whether you are white or black. It doesn’t matter if you are actually white or black. He thinks you are black, so he bullies you.
mic o mic…
So you mean that a person who believes he is a cat shouldn’t have equal rights as other people, and should be kicked out of a club for having that belief?
mic,
you mean like this?
http://www.bobiland.com/worldwide/lizard_man.php
It depends.
If he thinks he is a cat but continues to behave as a human, I am quite alright with it.
But if he moves around on all fours, starts clawing my furniture and miaow late into the night I will probabily send him to be spayed, nutered or to the Institute of Mental Health.
I won’t be too concerned about his equal rights.
Losers who discriminate do not require ANY reasons or logic. They just do. They can say it’s their religion, their lousy upbringing, their lop-sided brain..etc…all these are just convenient poor distractions to their REAL trashy characters-period!
So it’s really pointless to reason with morons. What can you expect when our own diseased government blatantly discriminates against the LGBT population and boast about it. What can you say about its people when many treat animals and maids like disposables.
I salute these group of brave human beings for living their lives honestly. It takes real courage to be truthful. God bless!
Singapore is a very Ungracious & selfish society and it makes no apologies. You just have to take care of your own kind and watch your backs. Many ass licking traitors around. Remember this:
We may run out of water
We may run out of fresh air
But we will never run out of hypocrites
They’re everywhere
mic, I agree that rude behaviour should not be tolerated.
If a Christian comes to my house to visit and discusses religion politely, I am all right with it.
If he shoves a bible in my face, yell at me and smash the buddha statue in my living room… I will send him to by spayed, neutered and to IMH. I won’t be too concerned about his equal rights either.
The transgender women paid to enter the nightclub, are sitting with their friends quietly. They are not demanding free entry, free drinks, screaming, fighting with patrons, stripping their clothes off.
By your standards, they are behaving like human beings, so it looks like you will be all right with them, and you don’t want to be in a country where someone who is minding their own business gets targeted and hauled away.
I don’t want my country to be one where people minding their own business get harassed. If this is ok, then who next to they target? Fat men? Men with small penis? Old aunties? Women with small breasts?
Just because an old fart does not like it, it does not mean transgenders should be discriminate them.
LKY should learn to let go. He would be a respected fatherly figure always remembered by most Singaporeans if wasn’t over-consumed by power.
His accomplishments flood down the drains by his own son. How sad.
The term “real women” is such an outdated and lame term that seems to come up in debates pertaining to weight, size of breasts and dress.
To say that the women in the article “dress up” just to avoid having to pay entrance fee on ladies’ night is just incredibly insensitive and a ridiculous argument.
As a female (biologically and mentally), I also don’t need “protection” because they exist (see: S Gary). My rights are compromised not by men transforming themselves into women, but by men who think that women needs to be protected from the world.
Not half as as amazing as people with shit for brains thinking that transgender women goes to clubs to get their arse violated by strangers.
Perhaps their own conception was a miracle because their daddy was trying to do the same but stuffed his organ into the other orifice by mistake.
If the club has a problem with transgender women
Put a sign outside the club stating so. Don’t let them pay the entrance fee and throw them out in front of others. This is humiliating for anyone.
For me personally, If I know about this kind of discrimination act from a club. I will not patronise these club anymore.
Anyway, This is not about the clubs and transgender women.
Ultimately, this is about human rights and discrimination.
Actually, there’s a deeper problem and issue here…our mainstream media seems to be infested with gays and lesbians, and are abusing the monopolized media space to report on such trivial matter.
Transgender and LGBT should know themselves that the moment they choose to live an alternative lifestyle from the mainstream, they should be prepared to be discriminated, and people who do not subscribe to their alternative lifestyle have the right to express their disapproval.
Otherwise, aren’t these transgender and LGBTs also imposing their alternative lifestyle and values on us, and robbing us of our right to have a healthy society?
LGBT is a disease, and we have the right to stop the spread of it!
To Yung,
It is unfortunate, what a small-minded person you are.
The trust of the article is about the rights of a person has been denied because that person, is not what our society would deem as ‘normal’.
Fact is, they are people with feelings, and they should be accorded the rights as any people, regardless of their affiliations.
Many great writers, philosophers, artists, rulers and so on, are known LGBTs. So what do you mean “LGBT is a disease, and we have the right to stop the spread of it”?
Oh..right!!! You are an ignorant moron who probably watches too much porn and don’t know your world history very well.
To Yung!! I salute you Zeig Heil!!!
Yung, seriously, I don’t agree with your thoughts but I don’t complain saying u impose ur thoughts on me.
That’s your right to express your views. I respect that.
I m curious, yung,Do you think every human being
have this right?
Can u clarify?
No one is born to fulfil another’s expectations. It is in the acceptance of oneself (whatever inclinations or …) that one can and would accept another. As for the gender stereotyping or profiling it is utter hyporcrisy. We are all conditioned one way or another and it is wise to acknowledge that aspect within us and allow another to be or express whatever it may be – as long as it does not encroach on another to be or do or is disruptive of another to be or right.
To make oneself right by making another wrong does not detract from what is. Society one cannot find, but individuals one can find. The real culprits are not the above but rather the hyocritical, bigoted, prejudiced politicians and priests or … – the latter are a blight and a bane to society lah.
PS – Lest one forgets in actuality each human being is half-man half-woman – a by-product of a woman and a man! Unless one is born of …
As for the campaigning – I would simply not patronize such outlets and let go lah. Yes, it is always an ego-trip to be caught in the game who is right and who is wrong. It never ends and the probability is would go on as long as human beings are DIS-eased!
Yung 9 May 2010
Actually, there’s a deeper problem and issue here…our mainstream media seems to be infested with gays and lesbians, and are abusing the monopolized media space to report on such trivial matter.
wow…congratulations TOC! you are now ‘mainstream media’…