Yvette's Story

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Yvette (whose name has been changed to protect her identity) was unable to participate in the Photovoice. Nonetheless, she opened her heart up to our group and gave insight on her life's struggles as a transgender in Singapore.

In our very first meeting with the T-project, we had an informal, intimate focus group session whereby Yvette, although silent for the beginning of the session, began to delve into sharing her personal observations of society's treatment towards the Transgender Community, with great sadness. Yvette coincidentally joined the shelter on the first day we arrived and her story was one wrought with both grief and joy. Yvette said she was found on the streets by some social workers who referred her to the T-Project Shelter. On first glance, it's clear that Yvette is sick - she has Stage 4 Cancer and is extremely weak.

In an intimate conversation with some of the group members, she recalled visiting the doctor and hearing him telling her that he was sorry but she had Stage 4 Cancer.

She asked him "okay... when is the next stage?" - to which he said that was the last stage.

She then asked him "how long do I have to live?". "3-6 months." "3-6 years?"

"months..."

Upon hearing this, Yvette fainted on the ground and hurt her back and head.

She told us that her parents had rejected her ever since they found out about her transition and felt alone in her resignation to cancer, with only a brother who would call every now and then. She wept heavily as we wept along. She kept saying that she was so scared of dying but every now and then, she'd feel so alone that she'd think that it would "be better to just die". Besides being rejected by her family, she recalled having people yell "ugly uncle stop wearing a dress" and being beaten up. To which, she sighed and said

"In the end, the only people who are really there for us... is people like us. Sisters."

In the Army, she recalled - similar to Linda's story, that her peers would cover her with a blanket at night and mercilessly beat them up till they bled and bruised. Fearing the unknown, many of these army boys had done such acts ignorantly and Yvette and Linda were unable to pinpoint who had attacked them because of the blanket. Cruel discrimination such as these were faced by many of the girls at the shelter, from various individuals, including their own family members. Nonetheless, Yvette recalled that when she was assigned to be in the Army's Band, she really enjoyed herself. Yvette recalled how Sisterhood had made many of her memories filled with joy. Dressing up to strut down Bugis Street with her sisters, in her various wigs and dresses without a care for others' judgements, was a fond memory she kept smiling and laughing about. In the face of rejection, many of the girls sought comfort from each other. Still, this was just a moment of relief from the reality where parts of society had yet to see them as humans, too. Humans who deserved the same amount of respect, dignity - regardless of whether they agreed with their orientation or not.

Due to personal reasons, Yvette left the shelter and was unable to complete her Photovoice story but hearing her story was certainly heart-wrenching for many of us and one we hope would help society to see that these Transgendered Individuals are still humans who deserve love and kindness just as much as we do.

*name has been changed to protect individual’s privacy