1 Street and State Discrimination: Thai Transgender Women in Europe Discriminatie op straat en door de staat: Thaise transgender vrouwen in Europa (met een samenvatting in het Nederlands) Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Utrecht op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof.dr. G.J. van der Zwaan, ingevolge het besluit van het college voor promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op woensdag 25 april 2018 des middags te 12.45 uur door Jutathorn Pravattiyagul geboren op 25 april 1988 te Bangkok, Thailand 2 Promotoren: Prof. dr. D. Siegel Prof. dr. F. Sack The degree is awarded as part of a Joint Doctorate with Utrecht University and University of Hamburg. The thesis was accomplished with the financial support from the European Union’s education audiovisual and cultural executive agency’s Erasmus Mundus Scheme. 3 Declaration I declare that the research embodied in the thesis is my own work and has not previously been submitted for a degree at any other universities. I declare that I have not used commercial doctoral advisory services or any sources or aids other than those listed in the thesis. 4 ABSTRACT The large number of Thai transgender women (Kathoey) in Thailand and their visible roles in society often lead casual visitors to believe that Thailand is open and accepting of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) culture. Hence, it is common to hear Thailand described as gender tolerant and culturally sensitive. However, transgender women themselves beg to differ. They explain that the accumulated injustices of the Thai state on transgender rights – such as same sex marriage, social welfare, change of gender on identification card and structural employment discrimination - are the main push factor for Thai transgender women migration to Europe. This research presents state and street discrimination in Thailand and Europe. It also presents the visions of Europe that are commonly held by transgender women, visions that motivate some of them to migrate, and argues that these fantasies are romanticizing productions of western colonial influence. In Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and The UK, where the governments support equal rights of transgender people, Kathoeys find that they are allowed to legally marry, revel in professional progress, access social welfare and receive transgender legal protections. However compared to Thailand, Kathoeys experience more violent discrimination and transprejudice on street (social) level in Europe. This research studies the phenomenon of Thai transgender women migration to Europe and their perception before migrating and reality of living in Europe. It compares the levels of discrimination in Thailand and Europe and presents empirical data regarding street discrimination towards Kathoeys in Europe, despite state protection. The gap between European legal protections and the negative attitudes toward Kathoeys that continues to exist on the street demonstrates the power of universal and essentialist binary opposition: as hetero-normativity and cis-gender bodies are constructed to comprise normalcy and natural, Kathoeys and their transgendered bodies equate with deviancy and the unnatural. The Kathoey discourse of social acceptance through hetero-beauty myth is also theorized in an effort to understand Kathoey’s otherness, oppressed identity and inferiority issues in the Western world, which is influenced by hetero-normativity and post-colonial legacy. The study also investigates transgender prostitution industry in Europe and Thai transgender women’s narratives on European lives. 5 ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Die große Anzahl von thailändischen transgender Frauen (Kathoey) in Thailand und ihre sichtbaren Rollen in der Gesellschaft verleitet gelegentliche Besucher anzunehmen, dass Thailand sich offen und akzeptierend gegenüber der LGBT (zum englischen Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Kultur verhält. Daher ist es üblich, dass Thailand als Gender-tolerant und kulturell einfühlsam beschrieben wird. Transgender Frauen widersprechen diesem allerdings. Sie berichten, dass die zusammengenommenen Ungerechtigkeiten des thailändischen Staates entgegen Transgenderrechten – wie zum Beispiel, die gleichgeschlechtliche Ehe, Sozialhilfe, die rechtliche Anerkennung einer Geschlechtsumwandlung auf dem Ausweis und strukturelle Beschäftigungsdiskriminierung – als die wichtigsten Push-Faktoren wirken um Transgender Frauen dazu bewegen nach Europe zu ziehen. Diese Forschung präsentiert Diskriminierung sowohl auf staatlicher Ebene, als auch im alltäglichen Leben auf der Straße. Zudem werden die Vorstellungen dargestellt die transgender Frauen häufig angeben von Europa zu haben, was manche wiederum inspiriert auszuwandern, und diese Fantasien werden hier als romantisierende Produktionen des westlichen Kolonialeinflusses ermittelt. In Dänemark, den Niederlanden, Belgien und in Großbritannien, wo die Regierungen die Gleichberechtigung von transgender Menschen unterstützen, ist es Kathoeys erlaubt rechtmäßig zu heiraten, beruflichen Aufstieg zu erleben, auf Sozialhilfe zuzugreifen und Rechtsschutz für transgender Menschen zu erhalten. Im Vergleich zu Thailand erleben Kathoeys im Alltags-/Sozialleben in Europa allerdings gewaltorientiertere Diskriminierung und Vorurteile gegen transgender Frauen. Diese Forschung untersucht das Phänomen der thailändischen transgender Frauen, die nach Europa auswandern, ihre Vorstellung vor der Migration und die Realität des Lebens in Europa. Dabei wird Diskriminierung in Thailand und Europa verglichen und die Alltagsdiskriminierung gegenüber Kathoeys die auf Europas Straßen trotz staatlichem Schutz stattfindet wird empirisch dargelegt. Die Kluft zwischen dem europäischen Rechtsschutz und den negativen Haltungen gegenüber Kathoeys, die auf der Straße weiterhin bestehen, ist bezeichnend für die Macht von universellen und essentialistischen Binär-Opposition: während Heteronormativität und Cisgender Körper so konstruiert werden, dass sie Normalität und Natürlichkeit beinhalten, so werden Kathoeys und ihre transgender Körper Devianz und Unnatürlichen 6 gleichgestellt. Der Kathoey-Diskurs der gesellschaftlichen Akzeptanz durch einen Hetero-Schönheits-Mythos wird ebenfalls theoretiert, in dem Bestreben die ‘Otherness’ von Kathoeys, ihre unterdrückte Identität und Minderwertigkeitsgefühl in der westlichen Welt zu verstehen, die wiederum durch Heteronormativität und ein postkoloniales Vermächtnis beeinflusst werden. Zudem untersucht diese Studie die Prostitutionsindustrie in Europa und die Narrative von Thai transgender Frauen zu ihrem europäischen Leben. 7 SUMMARY (in English) This research provides rare information on street and state discrimination against Thai transgender women (Kathoeys) in Europe, and also explores the trend of Kathoey transnational migration, including Kathoey fantasies about Europe, their racialized sexual desire toward European men, their perception and reality of having Western spouses, and their post-colonial queer identity, which is the new dimension of Kathoey research. It compares the social and legal levels of discrimination toward Thai transgender women in Thailand and Europe, as well as theorizes the discourse of social acceptance through the hetero-aesthetic myth by social and media institutions which creates the reproduction loop of trans-phobia and social discrimination. Furthermore, this research also examines Kathoey narratives on European lives and the transgender sex work industry in Europe and Thailand. Kathoey identity is perceived as a deviancy and as disordered behaviour in Thai mainstream society under the production of crypto/post-colonialism which has created the current Thai nationalism and most of western civilization. To explore Kathoeys’ lives, I use qualitative analysis along with critical ethnography by using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion, participant observation, and data triangulation. The main areas of data collection are Thailand and four European countries: the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Belgium. The main specific areas for data collection, both in Europe and in Thailand, are Thai restaurants and bars, Thai temples, transgender nightclubs and parties, transgender sex parties, and red light districts, as well as places my respondents negotiate their daily lives, such as their apartments, salons, local bars, and so on. With the discussion of its empirical data, this thesis demonstrates the harm of essentialist identity politics and outlines that it should be deconstructed because essentialist identity-politics exacerbate discrimination. It also illustrates how these politics double or triple stigmatize minorities of minorities such as people with nonconforming gender, lesbian Kathoeys, Kathoey sex workers, Kathoey immigrants in Europe, people who identify as ‘queer’, and more. I further show the connection between colonial influence and the construction of gender, and western influence on gender binary and sexuality in Thailand. This research also thoroughly explores both social and legal issues toward Kathoey in Thailand. It illustrates this argument by presenting participants’ own reports of their issues regarding Thai state discrimination, such as on personal documentation and legal status issues, structural employment issues, marriage and family rights, hate crimes, and structural issues in the Thai education system and academic institutions. Besides the legal and policy discrimination, my research also demonstrates diverse levels of social exclusion and trans-prejudices