Here in Malaysia, transgender rights have been long debated by citizens – and despite the efforts of many to protect the rights of transgender, Malaysia remains one of the worst countries in the world for transgender rights. Recently, a Twitter thread went viral, sparking another debate on the boundaries set upon transgender people.
Twitter user @/hnnhxhrmn recently shared a story of when she was in KLCC with her friend who dons a niqab. They decided to enter a restroom in the mall when her niqabi friend wanted to adjust her hair. While in there, the user claimed the transwoman and her friends were taking up space in front of the mirror.
The user tweeted that she kindly asked the transwoman to exit the washroom so her friend could remove her niqab and fix her hair. She added that under Islamic laws, a woman’s aurat must not be shown to someone male at birth. The user then shared that the transwoman rudely replied to her request. She continued the story, detailing the argument between her and the group of transwomen.
In one of the tweets, the user also shared that what she did then was out of respect for her friend’s right to feel safe about removing her niqab. The thread ended with the user arguing about the boundaries for a transgender person. The series of tweets gained many comments from people arguing from both sides.
On one side, many netizens praised the user for standing up for her friend and calling out the transwoman for her rudeness. One commenter wrote that the user’s action was simply one woman protecting another woman’s right to safely and comfortably use the restroom. However, many netizens defended the transwoman, believing what the user did was transphobic despite her intentions.
One netizen pointed out that the transwoman also has the right to use the toilet safely, so the user shouldn’t have asked her to leave the restroom entirely. As the user claimed she intended to protect her friend’s aurat, another netizen wondered if the user would have done the same to non-muslims.
What do you think about this situation? Are you on the Twitter user’s side or the transwoman?
Source: Twitter
Adleena contributed to this article.
