The \"Third Gender\" that Walking on the Edge of the Society

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

“Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration， without distinction of any kind， such as race， color， sex， language， religion， political or other opinion， national or social origin， property， birth or other status.”

These are the first article and second article of UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and just like it said “gender” is one of the important part of human rights protection. Of course， “gender” is a choice that everyone is bound to be faced with and it is pasted on kinds of social activities for human beings from the beginning to the end. At present， besides male and female， there is a “third gender” in gender identity.

“人人生而自由，在尊嚴和權利上一律平等。他們賦有理性和良心，并應以兄弟關系的精神相對待。”

“人人有資格享受本宣言所載的一切權利和自由，不分種族、膚色、性別、語言、宗教、政治或其他見解、國籍或社會出身、財產(chǎn)、出生或其他身份等任何區(qū)別。”

以上是聯(lián)合國《世界人權宣言》的第一條和第二條，正如其中所言“性別”是人權保護中很重要的一項。當然，“性別”是每個人從出生就必然會面臨的一個選擇，性別的標簽也會自始至終貼在與個人相關的各種社會活動中。當前，除了男性、女性外，性別認定上還有“第三性別”的概念。

According to the report in January by Reuters， Sittisamarn， spokesman of Thai Constitution Drafting Committee said that， the new constitution plans to bring into “the third gender” to protect legitimate rights of gay and transgender people， eliminate discrimination and make sure they can be treated more equally in law. If the proposal passes through in August， it would be the first time that Thai constitution recognizes “the third gender”.

援引英國路透社1月份報道，泰國憲法起草委員會發(fā)言人希提薩曼透露，新憲法擬納入“第三性”的用詞，保障同性戀與變性者的法律權利，希望能減少歧視，確保使其在法律上受到更加公正的對待。如果此提案順利于8月通過，將是泰國憲法史上首度承認“第三性別”。

The existence of

“the third gender”

“第三性別”的存在

According to the news， in recent years， with the improvement of social openness， more and more people change their attitudes towards “the third gender”. But as a minority group – “the third gender”， their happiness and sadness will bring legal and ethical problems and because of the deep-rooted social values， the discrimination towards them has not been eliminated.

如新聞所述，近年來，隨著社會開放度的提升，越來越多的人對“第三性別”給予了態(tài)度上的轉變。但是，作為一個少數(shù)群體——“第三性別”，他們的喜與悲，以及由此引發(fā)的法律問題和道德問題仍然存在，并且由于社會價值觀的根深蒂固，對“第三性別”的歧視也并未消除。

There are reasons for

their existence

“第三性別”形成有因

In real life， “gender” that relates to appearance and body type also refers to proof of certificates， like employers would label: age， education background and gender on their recruitment introduction; certificates that relate to individuals like birth certificate， ID and residence permit label gender too. It seems that gender is not a vague option that if not “male”， then “female”. Is that so?

The notion of “the third gender” originates from the popularization of feminism in 1980s， which refers in particular to another gender besides male and female. It can be gay， transgender and transvestite.

現(xiàn)實生活中，與呈現(xiàn)出的面貌、體形對應的相關“性別”，還會涉及到很多個所有人證件證明，如在招聘說明上用人單位會標注：年齡所在的范圍、學歷、性別選項等；在與個人有關的證明如出生證、身份證、居住證、護照等證件中也都會標注性別。似乎性別是一個不應模糊的選項，非“男性”即“女性”，情況是如此的嗎？

提及“第三性別”的概念，源自于上世紀80年代由女性主義開始提出和宣傳，特指除男性、女性兩大性別之外的另一種性別?！暗谌詣e”可指任何一個生理性別的同性戀者、變性者、易裝癖者等。

The media said that， the data of the British citizenship transgender group shows the number of transgender is 4% of the global population and continues to rise. The researchers of it explained the reason for “the third gender”. They think that some of them have male and female chromosomes and sexual characteristics at birth; some have none of them or lack the core characters of gender， and some have gender identity disorder that have no psychological identification for the gender at birth and think as another gender or none of them.

For “the third gender” in different countries， it has countless ties with the local history and culture as well as natural and geographical conditions.

據(jù)媒體報道，英國國籍跨性別組織數(shù)據(jù)顯示，跨性別者的數(shù)量目前已經(jīng)達到占據(jù)全球人口4%左右的水平，“第三性別”群體的數(shù)量還在不斷增加。上述報道中的性別研究人員也對“第三性別”的成因給予了解釋，他們認為“第三性別”人群有的在出生時就兼具男女性染色體或男女性征，有的則兩者均無或缺乏判定性別的核心性征；而有的是有性別認同障礙，難以對自己的出生性別作出相應的心理認同，認為自己為另一性別或者兩者皆非。

而對于不同國家存在的“第三性別”，又和當?shù)氐臍v史文化和自然地理條件有著千絲萬縷的聯(lián)系。

It is known that， the transgender is normal in Thailand. Though there is no formal statistics， the unofficial conservative estimate in 2013 showed that there are at least 10000 transgender people in Bangkok and thousands of transgender surgeries happen every year. Many reports said the appearance of transgender people there is because they live in poor families and do it for livelihood and there are special schools to train them since childhood. Many transgender people are trained at very early age in clothes， behavior and hobby and they should take drugs that contain female hormone.

Compared with that， “the third gender” in India has deeper reasons. According to the statistics， there are about 3 million transgender people in India. In ancient India， they were spirit medium consecrated in temples which is holy. If people marry， have child birth， move house or celebrate festivals， they would ask for blessing from them. But now， they are suffering the fate of being excluded to the fringe of the society. It is said that， many of them are emasculated as sacrifice to the god and the public at a young age.

眾所周知，泰國跨性別人士較為普遍，雖然泰國官方并沒有具體的數(shù)據(jù)統(tǒng)計，但2013年據(jù)非官方保守估計，僅曼谷就有至少1萬名變性者，每年的變性手術更多達上千起。提及當?shù)氐淖冃哉撸鄶?shù)報道稱該人群的出現(xiàn)由于家庭貧窮，為生計所迫，加之有專門學校從小對此進行培養(yǎng)。很多變性者從年幼時即從著裝、行為方式、愛好等開始被培養(yǎng)，還會吃含有雌性激素的藥物。

與之相比，印度的“第三性別”則有著更深層的原因。據(jù)統(tǒng)計，印度目前變性者總數(shù)大約為300萬。古印度時期，第三性別是被作為靈媒供奉在寺廟中，是神圣的，若遇結婚、生子、搬家、節(jié)慶等喜事會聘請第三性對其祝福。但在現(xiàn)代印度，第三性別卻遭受著被排斥在社會邊緣的命運。據(jù)了解，他們大多是在年輕時被閹割，理由是為了奉獻給神明及大眾。

The current living situation

of “the third gender”

“第三性別”生存現(xiàn)狀

Take “the third gender” in Thailand as an example. The polite name for transgender people is “Miss bigender” and the normal name is “transgender”. In Thai it is “GRATEAI” and in English it is “l(fā)ady boy”. “Shemale” comes from the interpretation of Hong Kong and Taiwan. As people know better about this， it changes from derogatory term to neutral words.

No matter what kind of name it gets， it shows that “the third gender” receive high paid attention to in Thailand and they can be seen in kinds of tourist popularization and movies. Someone even said “transgender” is the feature of Thailand and an important pillar for entertainment that tourism also benefits from it.”

But staff in local transgender organization said in interview that， “since transgender people are common in Thailand， outsiders all think that they are broadly accepted in the country. In fact， transgender people are troubled because of their identity in professional level and job market that it is hard for them to be employed even if they get outstanding ability.” It is said that the Thai law has never recognize the marriage between same gender that they cannot get bank loan and medical insurance as well as the change of gender in national identification.

以泰國“第三性別”為例。從現(xiàn)有稱謂來看，泰國本土對變性者的禮貌稱呼為“雙性人小姐”，通常稱呼為“變性人”，泰語翻譯為“GRATEAI”，英文翻譯為“l(fā)ady boy”，“人妖”的稱呼則源自港臺翻譯，隨著人們對此認知水平的上升，“人妖”也從字面的貶義詞向中性詞轉換。

無論是何種稱謂，可見“第三性別”在泰國受到的關注程度相對較高，在泰國的各種旅游宣傳上也多能見到，另外很多電影噱頭也多有對此描述。甚至有人坦承，“‘變性者’是泰國的特色，是娛樂業(yè)的重要支撐，旅游業(yè)也部分受益于此?！?/p>

不過，泰國當?shù)刈冃哉呓M織相關人士接受媒體采訪時卻表示，“由于變性者在泰國十分常見，因此外界都認為變性者在泰國國內(nèi)廣被接納。事實上，變性者在專業(yè)層面以及職場上，仍然會受到變性者身份的困擾，即便能力出眾者也很難求得職位?！睋?jù)悉，泰國的法律一直以來也不承認同性間結合，這導致同性伴侶無法獲得銀行貸款和醫(yī)療保險，也無法在國家身份證明上改變性別。

Prempreeda Ayutthaya， transgender rights activist in Thailand and officer of Asia-Pacific project of UNESCO said in an interview that， “in countries of Asia-Pacific region， though it is open for transgender people in Thailand， they still face problems like gender change in identification.

Yolanda， president of Thai Transgender Women Association， has deep feelings for this too. Though she has certain status now， her own experience is not an easy one. For this group， maybe it is hard to just find a job for living.

The story of 28-year-old Nyuma is the proof. According to CRI online， Nyuma is a transgender and she studied so hard to get two degrees of international relation and ecological engineering in two universities which won her understanding and recognition of her family. But going outside of home means more tests and they are far beyond her imagination. “Even in Thailand that has relatively popular transgender culture， there are still common discrimination and bias towards transgender people. In colleges， even those who turn to females in appearance by surgery， still have to wear boy school uniforms. What’s more， government departments including public servants and big companies never consider recruiting transgender people.”

泰國跨性別者權益活動家，聯(lián)合國教科文組織(UNESCO)亞太地區(qū)項目官員Prempreeda Ayutthaya接受媒體采訪時對此證實，“在亞太地區(qū)國家中，雖然泰國對變性人已算開放，但是仍然面臨身份證件性別修改等方面的問題。”

另外，泰國變性女性協(xié)會會長——優(yōu)蘭達對此也深有感觸，雖然她現(xiàn)今在泰國社會中有了一定的身份和地位，但提及自己的經(jīng)歷也并不輕松，因為對這個群體而言，或許只是單純地找一份可立足的工作都是困難的。

28歲的尼烏瑪?shù)陌咐礊閷嵶C，據(jù)國際在線報道，身為變性者的尼烏瑪選擇努力學習，同時在兩所大學拿下國際關系和生態(tài)工程兩個學位，得到了家人的理解和認可，但走出家門還要經(jīng)受更多的考驗，而這考驗遠遠超乎她的想象?！凹词故窃谧冃哉呶幕鄬ζ占暗奶﹪?，對于變性者的歧視和偏見仍然隨處可見。在大學里，即使是已經(jīng)通過手術外形上完全變?yōu)榕缘淖冃哉呷匀恍枰凑諏W校規(guī)則身著男生校服。此外，包括公務員等在內(nèi)的一些政府單位和大型企業(yè)公司則完全不考慮變性者。”

For the majority of transgender people in Thailand， behind the group awkwardness， it is the survival predicament for individuals. The media said that， “the transgender group who cannot get normal jobs is trying to find sense of acceptance and social respect for the whole life. The sex industry with a low threshold is becoming the most convenient choice for them to get sense of identification.” What’s more， many of them go on the road of prostitution and drug trafficking. Some unscrupulous travel agencies do pornography in the name of \"transgender\" performance， which leads to vicious circle that they are equal to sex worker and dancing girl.

At the same time， for the majority of transgender people， they need to do surgeries in order to keep beautiful look， gender identity and the promotion of living conditions. But due to the limited economic ability， they have to choose some irregular small clinics which brings them pains that beyond repair. Many people hold the negative thoughts that they could not find real love nor have a family. So they use the beauty at young to make money for the provision when old.

As a part of the group， both Yolanda and Nyuma don’t want they have such miserable reputation and live an abnormal life. But compared with social discrimination and pressure， their power is extremely small.

對泰國的大多數(shù)變性者而言，群體尷尬的背后是個體的生存困境。有媒體對此評論，“無法進入到正常工作崗位的變性者群體，終其一生都在尋求認同感和社會尊重，從業(yè)門檻極低的性行業(yè)，無疑成為變性者群體收獲認同感的最便捷的選擇。”此外，許多變性者還走上了賣淫販毒的道路，一些無良旅游機構也趁機打著“變性者”表演的旗號進行著色情表演，繼而又惡性循環(huán)使得這一群體在外的名聲等同于性工作者及舞女。

與此同時，在大多數(shù)變性者心中，為了留住美貌，以求得性別認同以及生活條件的提升，常常需要去做一些手術。但由于經(jīng)濟能力有限，她們可能會選擇一些不正規(guī)的小診所，也由此導致了身體上無法修復的傷痛。很多人持著悲觀的想法，認為自己不可能找到真正的愛情，也無法組建自己的家庭，利用年輕時的美貌來換取金錢，以期能夠養(yǎng)老。作為其中的一員，包括優(yōu)蘭達和尼烏瑪在內(nèi)都不愿群體背負如此悲慘的名聲和無法過正常人的生活，但與社會的歧視和壓力相較，她們的能力顯得非常渺小。

There is a long way to understand and accept

“the third gender”

“第三性別”被正視、理解、

接受之路任重道遠

Like said above， for “the third gender”， the awkwardness of living conditions makes them facing kinds of problems every day. But just like Nyuma， more people don’t care the name of the group， but the acceptance and understanding of the society. “It is a treatable mental disease for Asia countries thinking us strange， not a disease” said Nyuma to the media.

“People always are with novelty psychology.” Prempreeda Ayutthaya said， and she also stressed the helpless situation for them. So the addition of “the third gender” in the new constitution though won symbolic welcome， the pessimistic mood also exists.

Citing the report of CRI online Sally Tara， person in charge of “Equality and Action Federation” stressed at an outgiving that， “the constitution made at the junta's state is not democratic and lasting. The pass of the draft cannot have long-term change.” She said， Thailand hasn’t formed the social awareness of respecting law and building democratic system. The issue of law cannot represent the correct enforcement of it. If the law enforcers have no idea of gender equality， it would not work.” “So I think the change should be started from root，” she expressed her concern.

對“第三性別”而言，生存現(xiàn)狀的尷尬使得該群體每天都會面臨各種各樣的問題。不過，與尼烏瑪一樣，更多的人并不在乎加在這個群體上的是怎樣的稱謂，而更在乎社會的接受程度以及給予的正視和理解。“無論亞洲哪個國家都覺得我們是奇怪的，是一種可治療的心理疾病，但這不是一種病?！蹦釣醅攲γ襟w坦言。

“人們一般都是帶著獵奇的心理?！盤rempreeda Ayutthaya對此指出，她也強調(diào)該群體所處的無奈境遇。對于此次泰國新憲法擬加入“第三性”的用詞，雖得到了象征性的歡迎，但持悲觀情緒的人也同樣存在。

援引國際在線的報道，非政府組織“平等和行動聯(lián)合會”負責人莎塔拉在公開聲明中強調(diào)，“現(xiàn)有的軍政府狀態(tài)下制定的憲法本身就是不民主和不持久的，通過這種方式，即使通過這一草案也不會產(chǎn)生長期性的改變?！彼赋?，泰國還沒有樹立起這種尊重法律建立民主制度的社會意識，法律的出臺不代表執(zhí)行法律的人能夠正確執(zhí)法，如果他們沒有性別同等的視野，這樣是沒用的?！八晕矣X得應該從根基上來改變問題”，她表示了自己的擔憂。

Pillai， senior officer of UN human rights said in an early open report that， “when making the law， it should consider the needs of special groups and protect their human rights.” For the most cogent need for “the third gender”， maybe it is the equal treatment when keeping them from the discrimination in employment， medical care， education and law.

Some experts said， “it can be started from the arrangement of suitable restroom or dressing room for them that can help them get into the society without strange looking. All of these are necessary things for government stressing human rights and equality.”

When Germany at first passed similar rules， media widely proposed that， the current Marriage Law only admits the combination of men and women and Partner Law admits same-sex relationships. But “the third gender” is outside of the both. It needs governments to discuss and study for defining the notion of marriage and partner in the future. So on the topic of “the third gender”， there is still a long way to go.

聯(lián)合國人權事務高級專員皮萊則在早前的公開報道中表示，“制定本國法律時應多考慮這些特殊群體的需要，使這些群體的人權得到保護?！睂τ凇暗谌詣e”最切實的群體需要，或許更多的是使其在就業(yè)、醫(yī)療、教育、法律等方面免遭歧視的同時，能夠被公平對待。

“先從為‘第三性’群體安排合適的洗手間或者更衣間，使其能融進社會不再接受社會異樣的眼光開始，這些都應是政府和社會強調(diào)人權平等的應有之義?！庇袑＜胰缡潜硎?。

當然，還有像德國政府最初在通過類似的規(guī)定時，媒體廣泛提出德國目前的《婚姻法》只承認男女異性結合，《伴侶法》則承認同性關系。但是“第三性”游離于這之外，未來如何界定婚姻和伴侶概念還需要政府繼續(xù)深入研究和討論。由此可知，在“第三性別”的話題上，未來的路依然任重而道遠。

Links: “the third gender” in different countries

鏈接:“第三性別”在各國

In fact， Thailand is not the only country in the world which admits “the third gender”.

It is said that， Australia is the first country which legally admits “the third gender”. According to it， when applying individual files， people can choose the third gender. In September， 2011， Australia government announced that， citizens with Australian passport can add the third gender besides “male” and “female” marked as “X”. According to this regulation， if citizens want to apply for gender change in passports， they only need to offer a medical certification.

What’s more， New Zealand issued this kind of policy in 2012. According to the local media， the new government allows people to identify their gender as male， female or the third gender – “X” (uncertain/undeclared)， and they don’t need to change the gender records on birth certificate and citizen file. So New Zealand is regarded as a country with foresight in “the third gender”. In fact， as early as in 2008， a report of human rights committee once proposed that， everyone has the right to change the gender on passport and other materials.

實際上，泰國并不是世界上唯一承認“第三性別”的國家。

據(jù)悉，澳大利亞是世界上第一個承認“第三性別”法律的國家。外媒報道稱，按照澳大利亞的法律規(guī)定，在申請所有人文件時個人可以選擇第三類性別。時間追溯到2011年9月，澳大利亞政府即對外宣布，持有澳大利亞護照的公民在性別一欄標注中，除“男”、“女”外，可以增加第三種性別選項，標記為“X”。根據(jù)該規(guī)定，如果本國公民想申請護照性別更改，只需提供一份醫(yī)生證明，即能在“男”、“女”、“第三性別”選項中進行更改。

此外，新西蘭在2012年也實施了相應的政策。據(jù)當?shù)孛襟w報道，新政表示允許人們標識他們的性別為男性、女性或是第三性——“X”（即未確定/未聲明），并且不需要他們同時更改出生證明和公民文件上的性別記錄。由此，新西蘭也被認為是在“第三性別”上具有前瞻性眼光的國家。其實，早在2008年，該國的一份人權委員會出具的報告曾提議表示，任何人都有權對自己的護照以及其他資料上記錄的性別做出更改。

From November， 2013， the birth certificate in Germany adds “blank” option besides “male” and “female”. Der Spiegel said that， this revision allows parents to choose the gender of their babies and those kids with bisexual characters to choose to be male or female in the future. And individuals can choose to keep the “blank” option.

At the same time， the supreme judicial court of India admitted “the third gender” in April， 2014， which means it allows the neutral or uncertain gender besides male and female. It was regarded as “a landmark rule” by the Time Magazine.

而德國人的出生證從2013年的11月開始，除了標準的“男性”、“女性”選項外，還增加了“空白”選項。德國《明鏡周刊》表示，該修改法案允許家長選擇確定自己寶寶的性別，允許那些出生時具有兩性特征的孩子選擇在以后的生活中成為男性還是女性。據(jù)此，個人也可以選擇保留兩性之外的“空白”選項。

與此同時，與以上國家同步的還有，印度最高法院也在2014年4月，裁定承認“第三性別”，即允許有男女之外的中性或者不確定性別。該舉措被美國《時代》周刊看作“具有里程碑意義的裁定?！?/p>

In Nepal， officials of domestic affairs said in 2013 that the government would issue “the third gender” ID to those who don’t want to be defined as male or female and related orders also delivered to all local governments. This action was welcomed by related groups that it will make the life become easier for the minority of gender groups.

It is said that， in April， 2012， the supreme judicial court of Pakistan allowed “the third gender” group to get related ID; in the cabinet council of Bangladesh in November， 2013， its Premier Sheikh Hasina announced the approval of a proposal by social benefits department to admit “the third gender”.

在尼泊爾，2013年該國內(nèi)政部官員表示政府將向那些不愿意被界定為男性或女性的人簽發(fā)“第三性別”身份證，相關命令還下發(fā)到各地區(qū)政府。該舉動得到了相關群體的歡迎，稱將會使得少數(shù)性別人群的生活變得容易。

有消息稱，2012年4月，巴基斯坦高級法院裁定允許“第三性別”人群獲取相應身份證件；2013年11月孟加拉國內(nèi)閣會議中，該國總理謝赫·哈西娜宣布批準社會福利部的一項提案，認可“第三種性別”。