🇺🇸 California ‘throuple’ opens up on parenthood after all three were named on children’s birth certificates.
Source: https://www.perthnow.com.au/lifestyle/paren...-ng-b881799397z



A ‘throuple’ in the US who created legal history in 2017 after all three dads were named on their child’s birth certificate has opened up on the triumphs and challenges of their unique family.

Doctor Ian Jenkins and his partners Alan Mayfield and Jeremy Allen Hodges, from San Diego paved the way for polyamorous families when a judge signed off on all of them being recognised on daughter Piper’s birth certificate.

Along with Piper, now three, the trio also have a son, 14-month-old Parker. The children are half-siblings, born using an egg donor and surrogate.

“We weren’t sure that we could have all three of us on the birth certificate so it became a court process,” Alan explained to The Morning Show.

“It was a pretty interesting, tense courtroom scene where at first it seemed we were not going to be granted that and we asked to speak in court and plead our viewpoint and the judge ultimately changed her mind and granted us legal parentage for our child before she was born.”

Jeremy said the trio “understand that we have an unconventional relationship”, adding the court battle was more than names on a piece of paper.

“If you’re not listed as your child’s legal parent then they’re not able to receive those benefits if our child, god forbid, was to end up in the hospital, one of the parents might not be able to go visit them.

“So it was really important to be recognised as the family that we are and thankfully we live in California which is a state that after some teeth pulling and fighting actually did then allow us to do that so it was amazing.”

🇵🇷 Puerto Rico issues LGBTQ emergency declaration amid violence
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/18/lg...n-demand-action



Human rights defenders in Puerto Rico have welcomed a recent declaration of a state of emergency over gender violence on the island as a step in the right direction, but cautioned that real change can only come after a meaningful shift on the societal level.

Gender activists have for years been calling for the designation, but the year 2020 brought on an increased sense of urgency: the US territory had 60 femicides – a 62 percent increase over the year before, according to the Observatory for Gender Equity, a local watchdog.

On January 24, the island’s governor Pedro Pierluisi issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency for 18 months, in a move that directs resources to government agencies to combat violence directed at women and girls and members of the LGBTQ community.

The order also includes the appointment of a new government representative to oversee the implementation of the measure, and the launching of a phone app to report emergency situations and report aggressive people. It also includes a public awareness campaign about gender violence.

“It’s been too long, this pattern of male chauvinism-related violence, femicides, homophobic and transphobic violence,” Pierluisi said during an interview with ABC News on February 5. “We want to promote diversity, respect each other,” he said.

David Cordero, an investigative journalist for Puerto Rico’s el Nuevo Dia newspaper said much of the problem has to do with insufficient police training and institutionalised misogyny in policing.

Puerto Rico has had a hate crime law in place since 2002, which includes both sexual orientation and gender identity, but Cordero says police have not been applying it correctly.

“Most of these cases are connected to the fact that the police department, from the very beginning, didn’t investigate these cases as hate crimes,” Cordero told Al Jazeera’s The Take podcast, citing examples of police frequently misidentifying trans victims’ genders.

“They [the police] are not applying the right protocols from the very beginning that they arrive at the scene, they are not identifying the person as transgender,” he said.

On February 23, 2020, a shocking murder further highlighted the dangers that transgender people face, and the sense of impunity that attackers have when committing such crimes. It also sparked widespread outrage.

Alexa Negron Luciano, who was transgender and homeless, went to use a women’s toilet in a fast food restaurant in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. A customer called the police, saying that Negron Luciano was peeping in the stalls.

After the police arrived, someone at the restaurant snapped photos of Negron Luciano being questioned by a police officer, and posted them on social media. The post went viral with what activists said had highly offensive homophobic and transphobic comments. That night, she was shot to death reportedly by a group of men who filmed her death as laughter could be heard.  Police believe the video was also posted on social media.

Negron Luciano’s case gained public attention after Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny appeared on the US TV talk programme, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon a few days later, dressed in a long skirt and a pink jacket, which he took off to reveal a white shirt that read in Spanish, “They killed Alexa, not a man in a skirt.”

“She did nothing, she just went to the bathroom, she was hunted and then killed,” Pedro Luis Serrano, the founder of Puerto Rico Para Tod@s (Puerto Rico for Everyone), told The Take.

“This [killing] was a trophy to these transphobic horrible people, and then nothing was done in her case.”

Serrano says Negron Luciano’s killing highlighted the deeply seeded misogyny in society, one that could take years to rectify.

“I think it’s horrible, it tells a lot about our society and where we’re at,” Serrano said, adding that much more will need to be done in school curriculums to alter the mindset that permits acts of violence against women and transgender people.

“It takes all of us to change attitudes, perspectives and the education system to be inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity,” he said. “It starts with schools and the upbringing.”

Offering some hope that policing efforts may be shifting, in May police charged two men under the federal hate crimes law for allegedly killing two trans women, Serena Angelique Velazquez and Layla Pelaez in April before setting their car on fire.

In January, Samuel Edmund Damian Valentin, a transgender man whose body was found on a highway outside of the capital San Juan, after being hit by a car, became at least the seventh trans person killed in Puerto Rico in a year. He had been shot several times. Police initially misidentified Damian as a woman.

Ivana Fred Millan, a Puerto Rican transgender activist, said she welcomes the governor’s initiative, which marked a meaningful change in the legal realm. But the challenge now remains to make a significant difference on the ground.

“I hope that this executive order, which is a new initiative by the governor, doesn’t remain on paper,” Millan told The Take, “that what is written can be implemented into work – that would be the most important.”

🇲🇾 MAC Disputes Malaysia’s Exclusion Of HIV Patients From Covid-19 Vaccination
Source: https://codeblue.galencentre.org/2021/02/22...19-vaccination/



KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — The government should prioritise people living with HIV for Covid-19 vaccination, the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) said today, disputing the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) guidance that contradicted international advice.

MOH’s MyHealth portal earlier today tweeted, on its MyHEALTHKKM Twitter page, a video of Health Minister Dr Adham Baba saying: “Individuals that have a poor immune system like those infected with HIV cannot take the Covid-19 vaccine.”

Although MyHealth later deleted its tweet, MOH’s official guidance on its Covid-19 website listed a few groups it deemed are not suitable to receive Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine, including those with HIV with CD4 counts less than 200; women who are pregnant or planning to get pregnant; and cancer patients who are undergoing treatment like chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy, among others.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine the government has procured for 50 per cent of the population is an mRNA vaccine, not a live attenuated vaccine, that simply gives instructions to the cells to produce the coronavirus’ signature spike protein, so that the body eventually recognises it and builds antibodies against it.

“As the Covid-19 vaccine is being rolled out in Malaysia under the National Covid-19 Immunization Program, the Malaysian AIDS Council stands by the current national and international exemptions made by medical experts that; People Living with HIV (PLHIV) can safely get the Covid-19 vaccinations,” MAC said in a statement.

MAC said that until further evidence shows otherwise, there should not be any discouragement for PLHIV to be vaccinated against Covid-19, as data has shown that people with underlying disease, including HIV, tend to develop severe Covid-19 once infected.

“It is recommended that all persons with HIV be vaccinated irrespective of CD4 count (protein found on immune cells) in line with international guidelines. The vaccines are safe in persons with HIV as they are not live vaccines,” the HIV group added.

MAC president Dr Christopher Lee emphasised that the immunisation programme is to ensure that herd immunity is built in the community to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission.

“I sincerely hope MOH (Ministry of Health) can clarify its position on the provision of Covid-19 vaccines for persons living with HIV (PLHIV),” Dr Lee tweeted separately.

“Based on international recommendations including from UNAIDS, PLHIV must be part of any national vaccination programs.”

International AIDS Society (IAS) president Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman said that MOH’s guidance excluding people living with HIV from getting vaccinated against Covid-19 was contradictory to international guidelines.

“None of the vaccines that have been approved are live vaccines — which could be a relative contraindication for PLHIV,” Dr Adeeba told CodeBlue.

“Furthermore recent studies have shown that PLHIV with Covid-19 may have a worse outcome. So, in fact, they should be given the vaccine to prevent the development of severe disease.”

Dr Adham explained to CodeBlue that stable HIV patients, such as those undergoing ARB treatment for more than six months and with CD4 counts more than 200, can be vaccinated against Covid-19.

“Need to ask health experts at the HIV division for an explanation,” Dr Adham told CodeBlue earlier today, adding that compliance issues with HIV patients must also be addressed.

However, the health minister acknowledged that many societies are giving their opinion with regards to this issue.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has recommended that PLHIV take the Covid-19 vaccine, saying it is safe for them as none of the vaccines approved by regulators or under development are live vaccines.

Besides UNAIDS, the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that people with HIV can choose to be vaccinated if they have not had any history of allergic reactions to any of the vaccine ingredients.

US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci previously explained that the Covid-19 vaccines produced are inactivated vaccines, hence are not contraindicated in those with poor immune systems. Only live attenuated vaccines are contraindicated (a situation where one shouldn’t take the vaccine) in those with poor immunity.

The Covid-19 vaccines approved by Western regulators include mRNA vaccines like Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, as well AstraZeneca-Oxford University’s vector-based vaccine.

🇲🇾 Mahkamah keluar waran tangkap terhadap Sajat
Source: https://www.sinarharian.com.my/article/1252...-terhadap-Sajat



SHAH ALAM - Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah di sini pada Selasa mengeluarkan waran tangkap terhadap usahawan kosmetik, Nur Sajat kerana gagal hadir pada prosiding kes berpakaian wanita tiga tahun lalu.

Waran tangkap itu dikeluarkan oleh Hakim Syarie, Mohammad Khalid Shaee @ Shaii terhadap Nur Sajat atau nama sebenar Muhammad Sajjad Kamaruz Zaman.

Menurut sumber, prosiding hari ini dijadualkan jam 9 pagi untuk sebutan semula kes, namun kelibat usahawan kontroversi itu tidak kelihatan sehingga tamat prosiding.

Dalam pada itu, peguam, Zuri Zabuddin Budiman ketika ditemui di luar mahkamah berkata, Sajat tidak hadir di mahkamah pada Selasa, namun beliau diwajibkan untuk menghadiri prosiding pada tarikh baharu itu kelak.

Disebabkan itu katanya, prosiding kes ditangguh ke 1 Jun depan untuk sebutan semula kes.

"Saya tunggu juga Sajat, tetapi dia tak datang.

"Pihak kami mungkin akan hantar mitigasi, tetapi belum dibincangkan lagi," katanya.

Selain Zuri Zabuddin, Sajat turut diwakili peguam syarie, Ahmad Nazib, Azlina Che Hasan dan Amirah Zainal.

Kes itu dikendalikan oleh Timbalan Pendakwa Syarie, Atras Mohd Zain.

Pada 6 Januari lalu, Muhammad Sajjad mengaku tidak bersalah di Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah di sini atas tuduhan sebagai seorang lelaki berpakaian menyerupai wanita pada 2018 lalu.

Sebelum itu satu rakaman video tular di laman sosial, memaparkan Sajat menangis dalam keadaan bergari.

Beliau menerusi Instagram miliknya mendakwa, Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) seakan melengah-lengahkan urusan surat jaminan dan turut menyebabkan kecederaan kepadanya ketika proses siasatan dijalankan di Ibu Pejabat JAIS di sini.

Muhammad Sajjad, 36, turut mendakwa, dilayan dengan buruk dan digari sehingga mengalami bengkak di bahagian badan kerana bergelut untuk mempertahankan diri walaupun sudah tampil memberikan kerjasama untuk siasatan pihak JAIS.

Dalam pada itu, JAIS mengesahkan pihaknya menjalankan siasatan terhadap Muhammad Sajad.

🇲🇾 Aktivis suarakan kebimbangan berhubung waran tangkap Nur Sajat
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/...gkap-nur-sajat/



PETALING JAYA: Dua aktivis lesbian, gay, biseksual dan transgender (LGBT) menyuarakan kebimbangan terhadap waran tangkap dikeluarkan kepada usahawan kosmetik Nur Sajat.

Thilaga, pengasas Justice for Sisters, NGO yang memperjuangkan hak transgender berkata ini kerana wujud kebimbangan sahih bahawa golongan berkenaan berisiko menjadi mangsa keganasan ketika dalam tahanan.

Beliau memetik laporan Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia (Suhakam) pada 2019 mengenai golongan transgender yang mendedahkan berlaku sekurang-kurangnya 60 kes keganasan terhadap golongan itu ketika dalam tahanan polis.

Sebanyak 54 kejadian keganasan melibatkan wardar penjara manakala 36 membabitkan tahanan lain, termasuk dipaksa melakukan perbuatan seksual.
Thilaga berkata, golongan wanita trans dan ‘intersex’ adalah wanita seterusnya perlu ditahan di kemudahan untuk wanita.

“Adalah penting untuk memastikan maruah dan keselamatan semua orang yang berada dalam tahanan, pada setiap masa.

“Amalan lazim meletakkan wanita transgender di kemudahan lelaki, walaupun dipisahkan daripada tahanan lain, perlu diubah,” katanya kepada FMT.

Terdahulu hari ini, Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah mengeluarkan waran tangkap terhadap Muhammad Sajjad Kamaruz Zaman atau lebih dikenali sebagai Nur Sajat selepas gagal hadir untuk kes terhadapnya.

Pada 6 Jan lalu, Muhammad Sajjad, 36, dituduh berpakaian seperti wanita dalam satu majlis bacaan Yasin dan solat hajat sehingga menyebabkan agama Islam dipandang hina.

Sementara itu, aktivis translelaki Dorian Wilde berkata, sekiranya ditahan, Sajat mesti ditempatkan berasingan daripada lelaki bagi melindunginya daripada menjadi mangsa penderaan pegawai atau tahanan lain.

🇲🇾 Federal Court unanimously dclares Selangor Shariah law criminalising ‘unnatural sex’ void, unconstitutional
Source: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/202...g-unnat/1952701



KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — The Federal Court's nine-judge panel today unanimously declared that a Selangor state law's provision which made unnatural sex a Shariah offence is invalid and having gone against the Federal Constitution, as such offences falls under Parliament's powers to make law and not under state legislatures' law-making powers.

Reading out a summary of the unanimous judgment, Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said the Federal Court granted the order sought by a Malaysian Muslim man who was challenging the constitutionality and validity of Section 28 of the Shariah Criminal Offences (Selangor) Enactment 1995.

Section 28 makes it a Shariah offence for “any person” performing “sexual intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal”, with the punishment being a maximum fine of RM5,000 or a maximum three-year jail term or a maximum whipping of six strokes or any combination.

The order sought by the man and granted by the Federal Court today is for a declaration that Section 28 is invalid on the ground that it makes provision with respect to a matter which the Selangor state legislature has no power to make laws and is therefore null and void.

Other judges on the nine-member panel are President of the Court of Appeal Tan Sri Rohana Yusuf, Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, Federal Court judges Datuk Seri Zawawi Salleh, Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Vernon Ong, Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof, and Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim.

🌎 No more ‘Mr.’ Potato Head: Hasbro makes classic toy gender neutral
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...gender-neutral/



Potatoes have no gender. And soon, after nearly 70 years, the name of Hasbro’s popular spud-shaped toy will reflect that: No more Mr. Potato Head. It’s just Potato Head.

On Thursday, the company announced that it would be rebranding the iconic quick-change toy to break away from traditional ideas about gender roles and family structures — it celebrated the wedding and subsequent anniversaries of “Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head,” and it sold boxed sets of the couple and their offspring, “Spud” and “Yam.” (Yes, there was even a picket fence.)

Soon, Hasbro hopes the potato play can be a little more flexible and diverse, such as Mr. and Mr. Potato Head weddings or single spud-parent families. The move reflects a growing appetite for products that offer more flexibility around identity, from a surge in popularity in makeup for men to Mattel’s diversified Barbies and a boy “American Girl” doll. One in 6 adults in Generation Z identifies as LGBTQ, according to a Gallup survey, providing some of the most detailed and up-to-date estimates yet on the size and makeup of the nation’s LGBTQ population.

“Culture has evolved,” Kimberly Boyd, who works on the Potato Head brand at Hasbro, told Fast Company. “Kids want to be able to represent their own experiences. The way the brand currently exists — with the ‘Mr.’ and ‘Mrs.’ — is limiting when it comes to both gender identity and family structure.”

The “sweet spot” for the Potato Head toy is about 2 or 3 years old, Boyd told Fast Company. Not just because of the its silliness, but because of its capacity to serve as a blank slate where they can model their experiences. “This often takes the form of creating little potato families, because they’re learning what it means to be in a family.”

When the rebranded toy hits shelves in the fall, the accompanying pieces will be made from “plant-based plastic” and have less plastic packaging, Hasbro told investors Thursday, according to reporting from Bloomberg News. A spokeswoman told Bloomberg News the kit will include two plastic adult potatoes, one baby potato and 42 accessories.

The news raised some ire on social media Thursday and may generate some flak in certain corners of conservative culture, but it’s not actually controversial, said Neil Saunders, managing director of retail at GlobalData in New York.

“A potato doesn’t have a gender. And they’re not saying the toy can’t be male, female or anything else — they’re just allowing the child or consumer to determine that for themselves,” Saunders said in an email to The Washington Post. “The alternative would be to produce a whole variety of different products to cater for different genders — but that would be unwieldy in terms of costs and securing space in stores. So this is the simplest solution.”

Hasbro’s original Mr. Potato Head cost just 98 cents, according to Fast Company, about $10 in today’s currency. After the release of the original Mr. Potato Head commercial, which was the first televised ad directed at kids rather than adults, Hasbro netted more than $4 million in sales in just a few months, according to the National Toy Hall of Fame. In 1953, Hasbro rolled out a Mrs. Potato Head and potato kids Spud and Yam. Later, the company sold various sets with the whole family.

In 1992, Mr. Potato Head eschewed his couch potato status and “received a Presidential Sports Award from the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports,” according to the Quad-City Times, which was presented on the White House lawn.

After Mr. Potato Head appeared, voiced by comedian Don Rickles, in Pixar’s “Toy Story” in the 1990s, sales got another major boost, as did many other classic toys featured in the film, like slinky and Etch-a-Sketch, according to the Takeout.

George Lerner, a Brooklyn inventor, first conceived of Mr. Potato Head as a “funny face kit” that kids could stick onto potatoes or other vaguely head-shaped vegetables in 1949, according to ThoughtCo. The early iteration was a collection that included 28 hands, feet, eyes, mouths, hair and hats — potato not included. After selling the pieces as bonuses in cereal boxes, Lerner later sold the rights to the Rhode Island company Hassenfield Brothers, which would become Hasbro.

The original Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head will still be sold under the gender-neutral rebrand, Hasbro confirmed Thursday in a tweet.

🇲🇾 Report: Jais launches state-wide search for cosmetics entrepreneur Nur Sajat
Source: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/202...r-sajat/1952912



KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) has deployed about 122 personnel and enforcement officers to find and arrest cosmetics entrepreneur, Nur Sajat.

According to its director, Datuk Mohd Shahzihan Ahmad, the action was taken after his department obtained an arrest warrant from the Shariah High Court here, yesterday afternoon, the MalaysiaGazette reported.

This is following Nur Sajat’s failure to attend a Shariah High Court proceeding last Tuesday in relation to a case three years ago.

The charge against Nur Sajat was made in accordance with Section 10 (a) of the Shariah Crimes (State of Selangor) Enactment 1995 which provides for a sentence not exceeding RM5,000 or imprisonment not exceeding three years or both, if convicted.

Section 10 refers to the Shariah offence of insulting Islam or causing Islam to be insulted either by mocking or blaspheming the faith and its associated practices and rituals either in a written, pictorial or photographic form.

“Jais obtained an arrest warrant for [Nur Sajat] yesterday afternoon, so today we are mobilising our members and enforcement officers to find [Nur Sajat] throughout Selangor,” he said when contacted by the news portal today.

When asked if the search had yielded any developments, Mohd Shahzihan said Jais had yet to find or arrest Nur Sajat.

“There have been no arrests so far, our enforcement team has already been deployed throughout Selangor starting today to track the whereabouts of [Nur Sajat],” he added.

Nur Sajat has been the subject of intense scrutiny by authorities and some members of the public over her gender identity.

Last year, Religious Affairs Minister Datuk Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri said Islamic enforcers would not merely be conducting arrests but also providing religious education so that the transgender community can “return to the correct path”.

Zulkifli’s remarks appeared to be in response to risqué photos on social media posted by Nur Sajat, which had prompted the ire of some Muslim hardliners.

A single transgender woman that does charity and gives back to the community. But, you know, they rather waste all these resources so that she "doesn't tarnish the religion further" 

Hi, i just knew an amoi, she had a friend where it's a she originally, but she surgeon herself to become a ''he'', why would a girl does that?

-family background?
-genetic issue?
-curiousity?
-abused?

i've never seen her friend, she just told me thanks.

I dont understand why people reported me? I just posted the news

Wait there is a J-AIS and a M-AIS??? How many other AIS does selangor have? What about the other states?

🇲🇾 'Saya tak mampu selindung lagi'
Source: https://www.bharian.com.my/hiburan/selebrit...ang-transgender



KUALA LUMPUR: Nama Isma Yusoof, 39, tidak lekang mencetuskan pelbagai kontroversi, sejak dahulu. Namun, di sebalik cerita panas, bakat lakonan dan karya arahannya tidak boleh dipertikaikan.

Sejak kes memukul pelakon, Ika Nabila ketika menjalani penggambaran drama Dawai Asmara pada 2015, ada sahaja cerita panas yang timbul mengenai Isma.

Aktor yang pernah diangkat Pelakon Pembantu Lelaki Terbaik, Anugerah Skrin 2010 itu pernah membuat pendedahan menghidap penyakit mental yang dikenali bipolar disorder sejak 2009. Penyakitnya boleh menyebabkan perubahan emosi yang terlampau dalam dirinya.

Mula dikenali menerusi drama Sutun 2, Isma sekali lagi mencetuskan kontroversi apabila membuat pengakuan berani seorang transgender. Pengakuan dalam video yang dimuat naik menerusi laman Instagram menyebabkan Isma menjadi serangan netizen.

Bagaimanapun, Isma kurang selesa berbicara terlalu mendalam mengenai kontroversi berkenaan. Sebaliknya, pengarah drama Kerana Terpaksa Aku Relakan dan Teman Lelaki Upahan itu mahu mengupas secara meluas isu kesihatan mental supaya netizen mempunyai kesedaran terhadap penyakit berkenaan.

Mengulas kesihatan mentalnya, Isma berkata, untuk pengetahuan, penyakit bipolar disorder tidak boleh sembuh dan tiada ubat yang boleh mengubati penyakit ini. Apa yang ada hanyalah ubat untuk menstabilkan mood.

"Sekiranya ubah cara hidup, tidak terjebak aktiviti yang boleh mendatangkan tekanan dan mengambil pemakanan sihat, insya-Allah penyakit bipolar disorder boleh dikawal, jadi produktif dan menjalani hidup seperti manusia normal.

"Disebabkan itu, saya memilih tinggal di Langkawi selama dua tahun kerana kehidupan di sini tidak memenatkan. Di Kuala Lumpur, saya melihat orang terlalu mengejar duit hingga hilang nilai kemanusiaan dalam kehidupan.

"Selain itu, saya semakin boleh menerima penyakit dihadapi dan dapat mengawal diri. Namun, mood saya tetap ada pasang surut, cuma saya lebih tahu bagaimana mengawal dan tidak keliru," katanya kepada BH Online.

Menyentuh pengakuan berani mati seorang transgender, Isma berkata, tujuannya memang ditujukan kepada ahli keluarga yang jauh mahupun dekat.

"Bukanlah mahu memalukan keluarga, tetapi mereka perlu menerima saya terlebih dahulu. Soal masyarakat terima atau sebaliknya, itu soal kedua kerana keluarga adalah sistem sokongan saya.

"Saya tak mampu berselindung lagi, saya perlu memberitahu keluarga supaya menerima saya seadanya. Alhamdulillah, mereka perlahan-lahan menerima dan memahami saya. Sekarang, saya memilih jujur dan berterus-terang. Ini kerana antara sebab saya 'stress' kerana terlalu banyak menyimpan perasaan. Saya juga tidak mahu menjadi munafik.

"Biarpun masih ada mengecam, tetapi saya nampak, apabila bersikap jujur, maklum balas diterima lebih bersifat positif. Apabila saya tidak jujur dan memilih menyimpan seorang diri, itulah yang menyebabkan penyakit," katanya.