Are we on the same planet? Napat reflects on this question at night after they* break up with Ake. The couple knew each other from an online game. It is not until Ake kisses them in a local park that Napat tells him they are born a boy.
Nobody can superficially identify their biological sex. Napat looks like a teenage girl who has long hair and an oversized T-shirt. They take online tutorial lessons, surf skate, and fall in love. Unfortunately, the relationship comes to an end when he knows their biological sex.
"I don't know when he said he loved me if he loves who I really am or who I appear to be," they said.
Their parents are supportive of Napat, giving them the right to choose their identity and protecting them from those who discriminate against transgenders.
Napat is the eponymous character in an eight-minute film produced by Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, Thailand's first transgender MP from the Move Forward Party, who was disqualified from Parliament over media shareholding last October by the Constitutional Court. The short film is part of the project, "Building Public Awareness Of Gender Recognition Law For Trans", by the Thai Transgender Alliance.
Tanwarin said the film questions the value of humanity for those who are exploring their identity or don't align with any gender. Is there anything that really supports them?
"We are humans but why are we treated like aliens? If we don't fall into any boxes, is there anything wrong with us? Do we have to put humanity in a box? I am not sure that we are on the same planet," she told an online forum that premiered her short film last weekend to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia & Transphobia on Monday.
Tanwarin said people should have the right to self-determination regardless of their genitalia, which traditionally confines them to gender roles. The gender recognition law should give freedom of choice.
"If we can change titles, it means we no longer pay attention to them. What matters is our humanity. Of course, it is not going to happen overnight but we must get started. In the past, nobody got this transgender MP who raised LGBTQI issues in parliament. I didn't call for anything special. It was no more than equality," she said.
Dr Nittaya Phanuphak, the executive director of the Institute of HIV Research and Innovation, said policymakers and service providers should think of being genderless in the long term.
Check out the short film at youtube.com/watch?v=6_vBtAvsWKk.
*Gender-neutral pronoun for Napat.
