My Experience Working With Jakarta’s Transgender Community

Jakarta Globe, Ratna Fitriani, May 15, 2014

Swara, a support group for transgendered Indonesians, meets to education
members about their rights. (Photo courtesy of Swara Salon)

Transgendered people have a long climb ahead toward acceptance in Indonesian society.

Transgender, unrelated to sexual orientation, is a gender identity expressed by individuals who do not identify themselves as members of their biological sex.

While supporting the Indonesian transgender community has been an extraordinary opportunity for me, it has been a challenge.

Many of the people I interact with are HIV positive.

One day, one of my transgender friends, asked me: “Do you have the courage to be my friend?”

“I’m a person with HIV, and my family doesn’t know,” my friend said. “Knowing I’m transgender is already a nightmare for them, and if they knew I’m HIV positive, it would only make things worse. The reality of it was difficult to accept, but life must go on.”

Honestly, I was scared. At that time, I knew very little about HIV. The short conversation would forever stay in my mind.

I started asking myself, “Do I genuinely want to be their friend? Or is this just a ‘duty’ that I need to fulfill?”

I decided to continue my interaction with them in hopes to find the answer along the way.

In 2011, Indonesia Untuk Kemanusiaan (IKA), the resource mobilization organization I currently work with, began supporting a group of young transgender people in Jatinegara, East Jakarta. This group, called Swara, or Sanggar Waria Remaja, was established in 2010 by several transgender activists. In only two years Swara grew rapidly, quickly making a name for itself as a progressive organization supporting more than 150 transgender individuals throughout Jakarta.

“LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] organizations in Indonesia have data accurately documenting violence against transgenders,” said Chika Noya, program manager for gender-based violence at Rutgers WPF Indonesia. “The data shows these people face disproportionate amounts of discrimination in all areas of life, especially in employment, which is exacerbated through unstable jobs and a lack of acceptance of their political identity in the community.”

One of the major issues currently faced by young transgenders is a culture of rank and seniority within the community.

“It’s very common in transgender communities for newcomers, usually from outside of Java, to begin a dependent relationship with a ‘Mami,’” Swara founder Lulu said.

Mami is the term used for a more established transgendered person who serves as a protector and mentor but sometimes uses that influence to exploit a young newcomer.

Swara, Noya explains, aims to improve the lives of transgendered people by advancing an anti-discrimination campaign to support the trangender community.

“The organization creates a safe environment for [transgender people], in which they can learn safely learn about their rights through informal education organized by activists and volunteers,” Chika said, “We also help them gain financial independence by teaching them ways to create a home business, such as a beauty salon, so they will no longer suffer from socio-economic inequalities from pervasive discrimination in the workplace.”

In many cases, transgender youths are shunned by their families and communities. They quickly make their way to the big city, where they hope to find acceptance.

“Here in Jakarta, no one knows me, and I can be myself without worrying about shaming my friends and family,” said Aysa, who rarely returns to her hometown. But several months ago, she says, her father fell ill and Aysa’s family asked her to return home.

After one week in the hospital, her father succumbed to his illness. His dying request to Aysa was that she cut off her long hair and dress as a man.

Most of these young individuals decide to run away from home to escape the shame and anger felt by their families. In some cases, they are asked to leave.

As a result, they tend to drop out of school, are left to work on the streets or worse; they end up in debt, addicted to drugs and struggling to get by.

Left with few options, transgenders are often foreced to turn to prostitution or busking on the street. If they are lucky, they may find work at a salon as a beautician.

In the past two and a half years, I’ve gained a better understanding on the complexity of their lives in exclusion. Still, I can only imagine how hard they must struggle to be accepted as regular citizen in today’s society.

IKA’s decision to support transgender youths through a government scheme called “PNPM-Peduli” is a step in the right direction. The move is a below-the-line advocacy program that calls on the government to acknowledge the rights of transgenders across Indonesia.

In 2012, when Swara launched their new hair salon, I sat down in front of the mirror and asked Aysa to cut my hair.

The next day I gave my friends the directions to the salon. Their complements brightened my day. But it wasn’t about me; my happiness was for my friends at Swara Salon.