Transexuals give WSF cracker of a show

MUMBAI: No-one who saw Prima Donna perform on Sunday night will forget them in a hurry. A Malaysian dance troupe that includes transexual and homosexuals, Prima Donna brought firecracker ammo to the World Social Forum, its ineffably attractive singers and sinous dancers oozing panache.
Our effete Page Three namunas could certainly take tips from the articulate Regina Ibrahim, in flaming red lipstick, shimmering earrings, and a long, spaghetti strap white gown completely smothered with sequins, counterpointed by her bass, smoky voice.
They were a revelation, and a far cry from India’s transexual and hijras — the latter usually a highly exploited lot, with whom the middle class public interacts only when they are busy shooing them away at traffic lights or chucking coins at them to hastily erase them from their mindscapes.
Khartini, who heads the Malaysian group, works with an organisation called Pink Triangle that deals with issues of gender and sexuality.
Prima donna includes performance artists, people living with HIV/AIDS, sex workers and HIV consultants. Khartini says she has been a consultant on AIDS/HIV issues for 18 years and is Asia Pacific coordinator for the network of sex workers, as well as the chair of an international network of sex workers.
There were a large number of sex workers in the audience, and it was good for them to see what sexually marginalised people in other nations are up to. All the more remarkable, considering Malaysia is an Islamic nation.
Asked if awareness campaigns on AIDS/HIV had significantly helped raise their profile and make them more acceptable in society, Khartini says, ‘‘Of course. Especially in Asia, where there is high illiteracy, people prefer to use culture and entertainment to get their message across. People get bored at seminars and we’re a lot more entertaining. After all, we are not asking for special rights, just equal rights — to treatment, jobs, like anyone else.’’
Regina believes sex workers play a valuable role in society ‘‘because they bring down sex crimes in any culture. And I told the hijras I met in Mumbai we need them for a peaceful life, for the development of nations.’’
Like transgender people in many cultures, she supports her family. ‘‘I have six sisters and have helped get them educated and married. My parents don’t support me but they don’t exactly say no either. It’s easier for them to accept what I do when I show them a videotape of my shows and my fans, as well as my paintings — I recently had a solo show of my paintings.’’
Says their manager Tan Dicky, ‘‘I manage the careers of men, women and transexual. I find the transexual easiest to deal. Men and women are plastic — you have to praise them all the time. Women, especially, often demand to be treated first class, but transexual are just as talented and are more concerned about putting on a good show.’’
Regina parting shot for Mumbai: ‘‘We deliver. We make people happy. Take us for what we are. Maybe the time has come to wake up and smell the coffee — and discover it’s really nice.�