NutLoose
21st Mar 2011, 18:28
Thai army changes transgender terms: report
BANGKOK (AFP) – Thailand's defence ministry has coined new terms to describe transgender men normally exempt from army conscription to avoid causing them offence, a report said Sunday.
The ministry is amending the law that states transgender people are exempt from signing up to the military -- unless there is a shortage of recruits -- because of a "psychological abnormality", the Bangkok Post newspaper said.
When Thailand's annual conscription begins in April, "Type 2" will instead refer to men who have undergone breast implants and "Type 3" will describe those who have had a full sex change, the Bangkok Post newspaper said.
"Type 1" will refer to men "whose appearances are typical of men".
"Normally only Type 1 are required to draw a conscription ballot," Thaksin Chiamthong, director of the academic resources division of the Army Reserve Command, told the paper.
"But if the number of Type 1 is insufficient, Type 2 will be conscripted as well, despite their female-like breasts."
Thaksin's office was unavailable for comment on Sunday.
The army reportedly proposed replacing the current classification in the Conscription Act of 1954 with "gender identity disorder", but faced ire from rights groups opposed to any term that suggested abnormality.
The Thai armed forces need to conscript 97,280 men aged 21 this year -- up by 9,828 from 2010, the paper said.
Clothing Stores would have a fit!
Thai army changes transgender terms: report - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110320/wl_asia_afp/thailandmilitarysociety)
BANGKOK (AFP) – Thailand's defence ministry has coined new terms to describe transgender men normally exempt from army conscription to avoid causing them offence, a report said Sunday.
The ministry is amending the law that states transgender people are exempt from signing up to the military -- unless there is a shortage of recruits -- because of a "psychological abnormality", the Bangkok Post newspaper said.
When Thailand's annual conscription begins in April, "Type 2" will instead refer to men who have undergone breast implants and "Type 3" will describe those who have had a full sex change, the Bangkok Post newspaper said.
"Type 1" will refer to men "whose appearances are typical of men".
"Normally only Type 1 are required to draw a conscription ballot," Thaksin Chiamthong, director of the academic resources division of the Army Reserve Command, told the paper.
"But if the number of Type 1 is insufficient, Type 2 will be conscripted as well, despite their female-like breasts."
Thaksin's office was unavailable for comment on Sunday.
The army reportedly proposed replacing the current classification in the Conscription Act of 1954 with "gender identity disorder", but faced ire from rights groups opposed to any term that suggested abnormality.
The Thai armed forces need to conscript 97,280 men aged 21 this year -- up by 9,828 from 2010, the paper said.
Clothing Stores would have a fit!
Thai army changes transgender terms: report - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110320/wl_asia_afp/thailandmilitarysociety)