In recent news, a birthday party hosted at a hotel in Kedah was raided by religious authorities which found a total of 30 transwomen in their 20s and 40s.
Following the revelation, Nisha Ayub has called out certain local media publications for allegedly discriminating the transgender community in the way in which they write news.
Malaysian transgender activis, Nisha Ayub, took out her frustrations on her Facebook page after a well-known local media portal used the term “Woe-man” in its headline, when referring to transwomen. She stated in the post, “Woe-Man? Not enough (with) the raid itself now we have journalists trying to enforce stigma by using such words to humiliate the trans community.”
“The constant Transphobic, Discrimination and bullies we have to face just because we are being who we are, expressing our gender identity and expression. I find this as an act to humiliate, disgrace and bully when people use such terms. How would you feel when someone uses racist slurs, body shaming or whatever terms that tries to undermine a person?” expressed Nisha in her post.
Nisha went on to say that it is sad that transgenders’ lives are being ridiculed by some people. In an earlier post, she called out another local media portal, claiming their reports to be transphobic for using degrading terms towards the trans community.
While speaking to a local news portal, the 41-year-old activist explained, “The way media portrays the trans community has always been very negative. They will degrade us by using slurs, misgendering, portraying a negative impression and stereotyping the community which eventually increases stigma and prejudice towards us.”
In addition, Nisha accused the media of encouraging transphobia, which would fuel hatred and violence against the community. She also found the pun used in the controversial article to be unacceptable and shocking, stating “It’s a form of bullying, it’s a form of degrading one’s identity.”
“Media has the platform to actually end any sort of discrimination, violence and bullying in their own way. Unfortunately some media encourages hatred and violence by writing such news or stories,” she told the news portal.
Nisha Ayub has dedicated her life to ensure equal rights for the trans community in Malaysia, where the transgender people are discriminated against under the law.
Back in 2016, she was the first transwoman to be awarded the US Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award.
