Transsexuals
Transforming Traditions
By: Abdallah Omar
Transsexuals have to struggle with the fact their body doesn’t match how they feel. You can say a man who has felt like a woman since childhood is a woman trapped in the body of a man. What’s more, psychiatrists and pills aren’t usually the answer to their problem, in order for them to really feel whole, they have to undergo hormonal replacement therapy and several years of painful operations. In the Middle East, transsexuals have the added burden of fighting to reconcile their sexual identity with the wishes of family, community and culture. Transgenders in the region face rejection and mockery in whatever state of gender they are in, and more often than not are simply branded homosexual, a criminal offence in Islam. However, many transsexuals are fighting for their rights and to be accepted in society by talking to the press. Sayidaty’s Abdallah Omar gets deeper insight into these fighters’ lives by spending time with Ahmed, a Palestinian Transsexuals who used to be known as Ola and his family.
After spending 15 years as a female, Ola decided to have a sex change and become Ahmed. He has stared treatment and undergone one surgery. He still needs four others in order to start leading the life he has long wished for. “It was hard for me and my family to live a life in which I was a certain sex but wished to be another,” the new found Ahmed says. “But we faced the problem with courage and I had great help from my father, mother, brothers and sisters. I will never forget how they supported me in those very difficult moments of my life.”
Ahmed hopes his new life will be better than the one he lived as a girl. His memories of his girls’ school are very sad and he prefers not to think about it anymore. When he was accepted into the boys’ school for the first time, he felt he was among his peers and was happy there. “We lost two brothers during the Israeli invasions,” he says. “I still have four sisters and two brothers and I am a new brother to them now.”
Talking from the wreckage of their house which was shelled by the Israelis, Ahmed says his family may have lost the house, but they are happy to have him back. “I was so lost, and started to pray at the mosque. I want to drive and dream of marrying a beautiful and well educated girl. The hardest moment was when I decided to cut my hair short and go out on the streets,” he says. He was afraid of the way people would start looking at him but he found they accepted him and started to approach him easily.
"I want to drive and dream of marrying a beautiful and well educated girl. The hardest moment was when I decided to cut my hair short and go out on the streets..."
Oum Tarek, his mother, is proud of him. “When two of my sons got killed, I asked God to reward me with Ahmed,” she says. He is a strong man she can count on. Ahmed was afraid society would reject him, but they always told him he would be more at ease with himself as a male and that he should lead a normal life, she explains. “I am proud of my son, Ahmed. He was born again at the age of 15,” she says.
Homosexual relationships are banned in Iran, but the country allows sex change operations. Sex changes have been legal in Iran since Ayatollah Khomeini passed a fatwa – a religious edict – authorizing them for “diagnosed transsexuals” 26 years ago. Surprisingly, Iran has recently carried out more sex change operations than any other nation in the world except for Thailand. The government even provides up to half the cost for those needing financial assistance and a sex change us recognized on your birth certificate.
Kuwait’s laws are guided by a religious edict which allows gender change if there are medical reasons for it.
Saudi Arabia does not allow surgery for transsexuals, but permits operations on people with an intersex condition, where they don’t have clear male or female sexual characteristics.
There is no legislation in the UAE banning or allowing sex correction operations. The law is silent on this issue. In order for a sex change to be officially recognized, there must be a medical report from the Ministry of Health stating the patient’s condition required an urgent surgical intervention. A court order to change the sex can then lead to amending official documents.
Homosexual relationships are banned in Iran, but the country allows sex change operations. Sex changes have been legal in Iran since Ayatollah Khomeini passed a fatwa – a religious edict – authorizing them for “diagnosed transsexuals” 26 years ago. Surprisingly, Iran has recently carried out more sex change operations than any other nation in the world except for Thailand. The government even provides up to half the cost for those needing financial assistance and a sex change us recognized on your birth certificate.
Kuwait’s laws are guided by a religious edict which allows gender change if there are medical reasons for it.
Saudi Arabia does not allow surgery for transsexuals, but permits operations on people with an intersex condition, where they don’t have clear male or female sexual characteristics.
There is no legislation in the UAE banning or allowing sex correction operations. The law is silent on this issue. In order for a sex change to be officially recognized, there must be a medical report from the Ministry of Health stating the patient’s condition required an urgent surgical intervention. A court order to change the sex can then lead to amending official documents.
Where The
Story
Came From
The story of "Transsexuals, transforming traditions" is from the January 2010 issue of Sayidaty magazine; in english edition. We'd like to notify that we're giving the credits of the story to the original publishers the way it should be, but we published one copy of the story for it's contents on an LGBT issue that might concern our readers and seek them help when they look for it, finding more LGBT-common related issues that helps other LGBT people relate.
Story
Came From
The story of "Transsexuals, transforming traditions" is from the January 2010 issue of Sayidaty magazine; in english edition. We'd like to notify that we're giving the credits of the story to the original publishers the way it should be, but we published one copy of the story for it's contents on an LGBT issue that might concern our readers and seek them help when they look for it, finding more LGBT-common related issues that helps other LGBT people relate.