Third Gender people In Cambodia

Change sex-lose the right to vote?
Third Gender Persons Need Special Right


“I feel so ashamed when people call me kathoey,” says 30-year-old beautician, Ano , “I want them to call me as a real girl like the others that is why I go to vote hoping that the new government will help me and my group.”

Because of this intention, Ano, from Battambang province, has been trying to make the identification card three times, however, she has been rejected by the Battambang commune all the time.
“When I asked them to make the ID card for me, they said that I was neither male nor female; hence, they discarded me,” says Ano in a disappointed face, having long hair, wearing den jeans and tight T-Shirt.

Chief Cabinet of General Secretary of National Election Committee (NEC) and also a Professor of Sociology at Royal University of Social Science and Humanity, Mr. Chin Sarin, , says that third gender people can have either gender (male or female) to appear in their ID card. “If they want to have a male or female gender, we should do it for them because it does not affect the citizenship,” They are also a human being like us ,so they can decide to have whatever sex they wish to, he says.

So far, in Cambodia only men are organized in to group of third gender people. Those are called MSM (Men who have Sex with Men), there are two groups of it: the long hair who changes their appearance to be women and love only men, while short hair who dress like men and love both women and man.

The MSM short hair mostly does not affect much by the gender discrimination as they look like man, Mr. Sok Yarith, director of Men’s Health Cambodia observes, but MSM long hair have more impact.

Not everybody has shared sad experience like Ano. There is no obstacle for MSM wearing like a man. Speaking one- by- one strictly like a man, Mr. Khit Srouy, 24, explains that he can vote as he was given a special form 10.18[showing that he is Cambodian and able to vote] from CCP members in

“I am interested in politics although I am a third gender person and I think politics can help me,” says the 24-year-old with slightly laughing.

One year living in a rental room with the other five MSM friends, Khit Srouy has been influenced by them to have women’s characteristics. He adds that he has never faced any problems concerning with gender discrimination. However, Mr. Keo Rattana, 39, who has loved man and lived with man for nearly ten years, says that he has faced with discrimination by the surrounding people. “People call our group as kathoey; I do not want to hear at all.”

“To me, I want the constitution to makes a law legalized that in Cambodia also has third gender person gender, that’s why I go to vote in every mandate,” says Mr. Keo Rattana. “expecting that the new created government would help us to be known.”

Mr. Chin Sarin says that if there are a huge number of MSM in Cambodia, the new law may be created to ease the people.

There are 140, 000 MSM in Cambodia according to the 2008 temporary statistic of Family Health International organization. Mr. Sum Thy, program officer in FHI, says that those MSM are educated about how to prevent from HIV disease as the prevalence of it is so high in Cambodia. “I think that the demanding will not be approved because it is unlikely to happen,” he says.

Different from Ano, wearing woman dress, who has problem with the ID card making, MSM long hair who always make up and act like a woman, wearing women clothes and make up a girl, Chan Daro, 29, can go to vote as she has used her brother’s ID card who had died to vote in the last two year. “When I went to cast the ballots, I took the ID card of my brother by using his name” she adds. “I go to vote as one contribution for being a Khmer resident although I know that the politicians do not care much on me and my group.”

Gender is a little problem for Meiy, 21, MSM long hair, says that she went to vote using male ID card. Meiy, in 2007 commune election, says that she went to vote by wearing female shirt and short pants then the people at the polling station asked her a few question about her appearance.
“It was all my nature; I was born with it.”

Mr. Sok Samoeun, director of the Cambodia Defenders Project, says that in the Cambodian institution there is no article saying about third gender person. “We have only male and female; I have never heard of third gender person.”

All the eleven-registered parties in this 2008 national election, there is no party which considers about the third gender person in their policies. Mainly those parties focus on the hot issues in Cambodia occurring in the present time such as inflation, corruption and land conflicts.