Min Min - who used a pseudonym for security - identifies as a transgender woman – or apwint - and was charged under the 1954 Police Act section 35 for being in a public space at night. During that night in custody at a Kyaukpadaung jail in Mandalay Region, Min Min slept next to the toilet.
Min Min's experience is not unusual for a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender community in Myanmar, which has long suffered discrimination caused by conservative values, religious fundamentalism and subjective interpretations of cloudy legislation.
The rapidly expanding LGBT movement is fighting back. It is pushing for the repeal of discriminatory laws and the strengthening of equal rights – and the first step of its strategy is to compile stories about incidents involving discrimination.
Min Min's testimony was included in a ground-breaking report on violence by law enforcement authorities against transgender, gay and bisexual men which documents police discrimination against members of the LGBT community for the first time.
The report "Facing 377: Discrimination and Human Rights Abuses Against Transgender, Gay and Bisexual Men in Myanmar", was released in early November by Yangon-based LGBT rights group Colours Rainbow.
Asked for a response, Police Captain Pyae Sone of the Yangon Region Police Commander's Office said last week he was unaware of the "Facing 377" report. Pol Capt Pyae Sone declined to comment on the treatment of members of the LGBT community by members of the Myanmar Police Force and in the legal system.
Although none of the 25 transgender, gay or bisexual men who describe their experiences in the report was charged under Section 377 of Myanmar's colonial-era Penal Code many of them believe it has influenced society's attitudes towards sexuality.
Section 377 makes homosexuality illegal because it prohibits "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" and despite being a colonial leftover, is viewed as integral to Myanmar "tradition and culture", said Colours Rainbow program officer U Hla Myat.
"Because of the law [Section 377], LGBT people are seen as always doing the 'wrong' thing – on the street and even in their private life," U Hla Myat said in an interview at the Colours Rainbow office in Yangon.
"This has a really negative effect on the community; LGBT people don't have the courage to live as themselves and they don't have confidence in their orientation and gender identity," he said.
The report also says that sections of the 1899 Rangoon Police Act and the 1945 Police Act, which is applied outside Yangon, are being used to discriminate against the LGBT community.
In common with Min Min, many of those who contributed to the report told of being arrested under either Section 30(d) of the Rangoon Police Act or Section 35 of the Police Act. They are "the sections of law most frequently applied against gay men and transgender persons in Myanmar for arbitrary arrests, abuse, and extortion," said the report.
Zaw, 27, who presents as male and identifies as homosexual – an identity known in the Myanmar LGBT community as apone – was arrested while waiting for a friend in downtown Mandalay. He was charged under Section 35 for being out at night without a "satisfactory" reason, said the report.
"The arbitrary nature of this law lends itself to substantial abuse by police, who are able to harass, arrest, and detain gay and transgender individuals with impunity," it said.
These arbitrary grounds for arrest are compounded by Section 54 of the Criminal Code, which allows for arrest without a warrant.
The report also cites cases of abuse in the prison system.
They include an account by a man, identified by the pseudonym Zaw, who says the abuse he suffered during a three-month prison sentence included being raped by other prisoners at the instigation of a prison officer and being forced to perform oral sex on prison officials.
Fear of the police and of arrest and abuse in the prison system prevents many LGBT people from "living fully," said U Hla Myat. "You always hide – from when you wake up until when you go to bed – and that's why you can't really think about how to contribute to the society."
In tandem with the repeal of discriminatory laws, the report also calls for strengthening the constitutional rights of the LGBT community.
The report argues that Section 347 of the 2008 Constitution, that guarantees equal rights before the law, is violated by Section 377 of the Penal Code and the discriminatory provisions of the police acts.
Despite constitutional provisions guaranteeing equal opportunity in employment and education, many apwint and apone interviewed for the report said they had been stigmatised and could only find work as spirit mediums, known as nat kadaw.
Surprisingly, nat kadaws – transgender women – are culturally and religiously accepted in Myanmar, a phenomenon that points to reliance on gender binary and "heterosexual" behaviour.
Western gender identities such as "lesbian" and "gay" are not generally used in Myanmar, said U Hla Myat. Instead, women who fall in love with women are viewed as women who want to be men, and vice versa for gay men, he said.
"There is the concept of being trans men and women – male or female – that's it," said U Hla Myat. "Instead of being a gay man, you're seen as wanting to be a woman."
Colours Rainbow is campaigning to widen conceptions of gender identity beyond being transgender, he said, pointing to his "LGBT is an identity" shirt.
With meetings arranged in Nay Pyi Taw and copies of the "Facing 377" report being distributed throughout Myanmar, Colours Rainbow is preparing to push for legislative reform, but the task of promoting change in community attitudes is daunting.
A boy who has committed "sexual sins" in a past life will be born as an apwint, according to popular Buddhist notions of reincarnation and karma, and therefore, apone and apwint are viewed as lesser citizens, the report said.
U Hla Myat said many members of the LGBT community are in need of psychosocial support. He said many of those who contributed to the report have reported suffering severe mental health problems because of having to repress their gender identify or sexual orientation and being at high risk of discrimination and violence.
Despite the struggle ahead for the LGBT community in Myanmar, U Hla Myat is optimistic.
"Legal reform will be difficult, but you have to expect everything in Burma [Myanmar] at the moment; everything is changing – and really fast."
This Article first appeared in the November 27, 2014 edition of Mizzima Business Weekly.
Mizzima Business Weekly is available in print in Yangon through Innwa Bookstore and through online subscription at www.mzineplus.com
http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/campaigning-for-equality/
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