Beyond the Gender Binary | Yee Won Chong | TEDxRainier

00:10:44
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Lm4vxZrAig

Zusammenfassung

TLDRThe speaker shares their journey of self-discovery as a transgender individual, detailing their activism, struggles with identity, and the challenges faced by transgender people in society. They discuss their experiences with political asylum, family dynamics, and the importance of allyship. The narrative highlights the societal issues surrounding gender identity, including discrimination, violence, and voting rights for transgender individuals. The speaker emphasizes the need for understanding and support from allies to create a more inclusive environment for all gender identities.

Mitbringsel

  • 🌈 The speaker's journey highlights the intersection of gender identity and activism.
  • 🛑 Transgender individuals face significant challenges in public spaces, especially regarding bathroom access.
  • 🤝 Allies can support transgender people by respecting their preferred pronouns and advocating for their rights.
  • 🗳️ Voting rights are a critical issue for transgender individuals, with many lacking proper identification.
  • 💔 Violence against transgender individuals, particularly people of color, is a serious concern.
  • 🏳️‍🌈 Political asylum can provide safety for LGBTQ+ individuals fleeing persecution.
  • 👩‍👦 Family acceptance plays a crucial role in the journey of self-discovery.
  • 🚻 Societal norms often enforce a binary view of gender, marginalizing non-conforming individuals.
  • 🏢 Workplaces can foster inclusivity by implementing anti-discrimination policies.
  • 💬 Open conversations about gender identity can help challenge societal norms.

Zeitleiste

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The speaker shares their journey of coming to the US at 21, getting involved in activism, and ultimately coming out as gay. They discuss the challenges faced in Malaysia due to its poor human rights record regarding homosexuality. After a six-year struggle, they were granted political asylum, but it took years to obtain a green card, resulting in a 14-year separation from their family. The speaker reflects on their relationship with their mother, sharing a story that highlights the conflation of gender identity and sexual orientation, and reveals their transgender identity, which they never disclosed to their mother before her passing.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:44

    The speaker offers practical tips for being a good ally to transgender individuals, emphasizing the importance of respecting gender pronouns and understanding the challenges faced by transgender people in society, such as harassment and discrimination. They discuss the difficulties of navigating airport security and voting as a transgender person, highlighting the need for awareness and advocacy to protect transgender rights. The speaker calls for a shift in thinking about gender and encourages the audience to challenge societal norms surrounding gender identity.

Mind Map

Video-Fragen und Antworten

  • What challenges do transgender people face in public spaces?

    Transgender individuals often experience harassment in bathrooms and must navigate their gender identity in public settings.

  • How can allies support transgender individuals?

    Allies can help by respecting preferred gender pronouns, scouting bathrooms, and not tolerating anti-transgender remarks.

  • What is the significance of gender identity and expression?

    Gender identity is how individuals perceive themselves, while gender expression is how they present themselves, which may not align with their assigned sex at birth.

  • What are the voting challenges for transgender people?

    Many transgender individuals lack IDs that reflect their gender identity, which can prevent them from voting in states that require photo ID.

  • What is the current situation regarding violence against transgender individuals?

    Transgender people, especially those of color, face high rates of violence, with a transgender person murdered every three days worldwide.

  • What is the importance of political asylum for LGBTQ+ individuals?

    Political asylum can provide safety for LGBTQ+ individuals fleeing persecution in their home countries.

  • How does the speaker relate their personal story to broader issues?

    The speaker connects their experiences to systemic issues faced by transgender individuals, including discrimination and violence.

  • What role does family play in the speaker's journey?

    Family acceptance and understanding are crucial, but the speaker faced challenges in communicating their transgender identity to their mother.

  • What is the impact of societal norms on gender identity?

    Societal norms often enforce a binary view of gender, which can marginalize those who do not conform.

  • How can workplaces be more inclusive for transgender individuals?

    Workplaces can create a better environment by implementing policies against discrimination and supporting transgender rights.

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Untertitel
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Automatisches Blättern:
  • 00:00:03
    [Applause]
  • 00:00:10
    I came to the US when I was 21 I got
  • 00:00:13
    involved in campus organizing from human
  • 00:00:15
    rights to environmental
  • 00:00:18
    justice and that activism helped me to
  • 00:00:20
    come out to myself as gay I feared going
  • 00:00:24
    back to Malaysia my home country
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    Malaysia has a poor human rights record
  • 00:00:30
    and homosexuality is punishable by
  • 00:00:34
    caning right around then attorney
  • 00:00:37
    general Janet Reno expanded the basis
  • 00:00:40
    for political Asylum to include gays
  • 00:00:42
    lesbian and transgender people I applied
  • 00:00:46
    and after a six-year
  • 00:00:48
    struggle I was granted political
  • 00:00:51
    Asylum it took me several more years to
  • 00:00:55
    get my green card and since there wasn't
  • 00:00:57
    a safe way for me to re-enter the the US
  • 00:01:00
    without a green card I didn't see my
  • 00:01:03
    family for 14
  • 00:01:05
    years until my mom came to visit in
  • 00:01:10
    2006 when my mom was in the US she would
  • 00:01:13
    tell my friends a story about me when I
  • 00:01:15
    was about this
  • 00:01:17
    age it was Luna New Year and she took me
  • 00:01:21
    out to buy new
  • 00:01:23
    clothes I kept bugging her to take me to
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    the boy department and she kept trying
  • 00:01:28
    to convince me to pick a dress
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    and after a few rounds of negotiation I
  • 00:01:34
    won so even though this story is about
  • 00:01:37
    my gender identity my mom told this
  • 00:01:41
    story to relate to my sexual
  • 00:01:44
    orientation is common to conflate gender
  • 00:01:47
    identity with sexual orientation because
  • 00:01:50
    both are associated to one's
  • 00:01:55
    gender we are assign a sex at Birth
  • 00:02:00
    based on a sex
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    binary male
  • 00:02:06
    female
  • 00:02:08
    but how we feel internally our gender
  • 00:02:11
    identity and how we express ourselves
  • 00:02:14
    externally our gender expression are not
  • 00:02:18
    determined by our assigned birth
  • 00:02:22
    sex I came out to my mom when I was 25
  • 00:02:25
    as gay but I didn't tell her that I'm
  • 00:02:29
    transgender meaning that my gender
  • 00:02:32
    identity and gender
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    expression does not fall neatly in the
  • 00:02:37
    man woman category and do not align with
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    my assigned birth
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    sex my mom passed away about a year
  • 00:02:48
    ago and I never had the chance to tell
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    her that this fall I started taking
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    medical steps to
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    transition sometimes I wonder if that's
  • 00:02:59
    for the better because her knowing that
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    I'm
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    transgender would have caused her a lot
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    of stress worry and
  • 00:03:10
    anxiety you see simple activities can be
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    agonizing for transgender
  • 00:03:16
    people I experienced harassment in the
  • 00:03:20
    bathrooms all my
  • 00:03:22
    life
  • 00:03:24
    so I go through a mental process
  • 00:03:28
    whenever Nature Calls
  • 00:03:31
    to avoid the potential for harassment I
  • 00:03:33
    would ask
  • 00:03:34
    myself do I come across guy enough to
  • 00:03:38
    use the man's
  • 00:03:41
    bathroom or do I feel threatened by the
  • 00:03:43
    men in this place that I would take the
  • 00:03:46
    risk of being yelled at in the women's
  • 00:03:48
    bathroom which H happens
  • 00:03:53
    often if this is a new frontier for you
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    I humbly offer some tips on being a good
  • 00:04:01
    Ally tip number
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    one assume that everyone knows what
  • 00:04:06
    bathrooms they're
  • 00:04:17
    in if you don't go through this mental
  • 00:04:19
    process like I do you're most likely
  • 00:04:23
    cisgender s gender means that your
  • 00:04:28
    gender ident and gender expression more
  • 00:04:31
    or less aligns with your assigned birth
  • 00:04:39
    sex now you
  • 00:04:42
    can also use your cisgender privilege to
  • 00:04:47
    help a non-gender conforming friend so
  • 00:04:50
    my cisgender
  • 00:04:52
    friends sometimes who scope out the
  • 00:04:54
    bathrooms before I have to
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    go is it multiple stall is it single
  • 00:04:58
    stall
  • 00:05:00
    this may not prevent me from harassment
  • 00:05:03
    but it helps me to be ready for what I
  • 00:05:06
    may
  • 00:05:07
    face gender Conformity is
  • 00:05:10
    so ingrained in our society take
  • 00:05:14
    pronouns for
  • 00:05:15
    example he she his hers we pick the
  • 00:05:20
    pronoun based on someone's assigned
  • 00:05:22
    birth sex not their gender
  • 00:05:28
    identity
  • 00:05:31
    so here is tip number two do not assume
  • 00:05:35
    that everyone goes by he or
  • 00:05:38
    she honor prefer gender pronouns if you
  • 00:05:41
    know them and if you don't just use
  • 00:05:44
    their
  • 00:05:46
    names and it's okay to ask someone for
  • 00:05:49
    their preferred gender pronoun once
  • 00:05:51
    you've established a relationship with
  • 00:05:55
    them most of us find going through the
  • 00:05:58
    security at at the airport
  • 00:06:02
    unpleasant in
  • 00:06:06
    2007 the TSA started to require gender
  • 00:06:10
    identification making an unpleasant
  • 00:06:13
    experience even more agonizing for
  • 00:06:15
    transgender
  • 00:06:16
    people 41% of transgender people do not
  • 00:06:21
    have ID reflecting their gender identity
  • 00:06:24
    and I'm one of
  • 00:06:26
    them there are many reasons for this
  • 00:06:30
    cost surgical requirement and Plano
  • 00:06:33
    being denied by government
  • 00:06:41
    agencies so I'm extra careful when I
  • 00:06:44
    walked before I walked through the
  • 00:06:45
    airport security about emptying my
  • 00:06:47
    pockets to avoid any possible
  • 00:06:50
    scrutiny but imagine
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    this the TSA officer addresses you as
  • 00:06:57
    Madam your driver license say you're
  • 00:07:00
    male and your gender identity is
  • 00:07:03
    feminine now imagine walking through
  • 00:07:07
    that airport scanner and triggering it
  • 00:07:09
    and the humiliation you face as the TSA
  • 00:07:12
    officer Pats you down and asks you
  • 00:07:14
    questions about your
  • 00:07:16
    gender I'm often asked questions that
  • 00:07:19
    are extremely personal questions that
  • 00:07:23
    are really none of anyone else's
  • 00:07:26
    business so here's tip number three
  • 00:07:30
    ask yourself would I want someone else
  • 00:07:32
    to ask me
  • 00:07:34
    that so in
  • 00:07:37
    June I was thror in as a citizen and
  • 00:07:41
    this past election was the first time I
  • 00:07:42
    voted in the
  • 00:07:50
    US one of the most precious rights of
  • 00:07:53
    being a citizen but a right that many
  • 00:07:56
    are trying to take away voter supression
  • 00:07:59
    is not a big topic here in Washington
  • 00:08:01
    and Oregon where I'm a resident because
  • 00:08:03
    these are the only two states that
  • 00:08:05
    require vote by mail but voter
  • 00:08:07
    suppression is very real for
  • 00:08:11
    25,000 transgender
  • 00:08:16
    people there are 13
  • 00:08:19
    states that ask for photo ID at voting
  • 00:08:22
    polls remember four out of 10
  • 00:08:25
    transgender people do not have IDs
  • 00:08:27
    reflecting their gender
  • 00:08:30
    so it means that they might be
  • 00:08:32
    prevented from exercising their right to
  • 00:08:38
    vote transgender people also face
  • 00:08:43
    difficulties on the job nine out of 10
  • 00:08:46
    trans transgender people have
  • 00:08:48
    experienced harassment mistreatment and
  • 00:08:51
    discrimination on the job I work for a
  • 00:08:54
    social justice organization that's not
  • 00:08:56
    only transgender
  • 00:08:57
    friendly we we help other advocacy
  • 00:09:00
    organization to pass laws to protect
  • 00:09:03
    transgender people from discrimination
  • 00:09:06
    and extend health care benefits to
  • 00:09:09
    public to transgender public
  • 00:09:13
    employees now we can all help create a
  • 00:09:17
    better workplace for transgender
  • 00:09:20
    people and you can start by not
  • 00:09:24
    tolerating any anti-transgender remarks
  • 00:09:27
    or humor at your workplace and anywhere
  • 00:09:32
    else transgender people also face
  • 00:09:35
    violence especially transgender people
  • 00:09:36
    of color sometimes fatal a transgender
  • 00:09:40
    person is murdered every 3 days
  • 00:09:44
    worldwide and many
  • 00:09:46
    more are likely
  • 00:09:50
    unreported as Texs and attendees I know
  • 00:09:53
    that you're already open to thinking in
  • 00:09:56
    entirely new ways so I challenge you to
  • 00:09:59
    think about gender when you use the
  • 00:10:01
    bathrooms when you're at the
  • 00:10:03
    airport or when you're introduced to
  • 00:10:05
    someone
  • 00:10:08
    new start thinking outside the gender
  • 00:10:12
    binary perhaps I've mistaken about my
  • 00:10:16
    mom mistaken that she told that story to
  • 00:10:19
    relate to my sexual
  • 00:10:21
    orientation perhaps deep inside she knew
  • 00:10:25
    that I'm
  • 00:10:27
    transgender she's a mom after all and
  • 00:10:30
    mothers know these
  • 00:10:33
    things thank
  • 00:10:40
    you thank you beautiful
Tags
  • transgender
  • activism
  • identity
  • allyship
  • discrimination
  • human rights
  • voting rights
  • family
  • gender expression
  • violence