Deputy Director of Institute of Social Studies UPM Prof Madya Dr Haslinda Abdullah speaking at a forum on Gender Identity Disorder in Hospital Pakar Al-Islam, Kuala Lumpur, November 19, 2014. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 ― Speaking at a forum on gender identity disorder (GID) last night, a social science lecturer said that rape and “environmental toxins” are among several factors turning men effeminate.

Assoc Prof Dr Haslinda Abdullah from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) urged parents against entertaining their children’s GID tendencies, and warned against getting help from transgender activists which she claimed will further “mislead” them.

“From my research, I found that there are many factors causing them to be involved with GID. Based on my experience, I had one respondent who was initially tough and handsome. It was such a loss for women.

“With my respondent, among the reasons he became effeminate was that he was raped, or we call it sodomised, by his own cousin… After that, he went to an all-boys boarding school,” said Haslinda, who is the deputy director of UPM’s Institute of Social Science Research.

Haslinda, whose field of research is “effeminate men”, however did not disclose other details of her field research nor its sample size, basing her remarks on just that one interview.

GID is a recognised psychological disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as well as the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), describing “discomfort or distress” felt when a person’s gender identity is inconsistent with that person’s sex that was assigned at birth.

Haslinda claimed “toxins” polluting the environment are also behind GID, citing a book she is currently reading titled Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men by American psychologist Dr Leonard Sax.

“Environmental toxins are causing disturbance to women’s puberty stage. At the same time, this thing disturbs the men. This exposure to excess female hormones, this is one of the reasons behind GID,” Haslinda said.

In his book, Dr Sax claimed that “toxins” found in everyday products such as BPA, pthalates, PVC, pesticides and fertilisers are affecting boys physically.

Haslinda also said parents should not “entertain” their children if they wish to express themselves in a different gender identity, while warning against getting information on GID from transgender activists.

“When the public does not accept them, that is why they have a disorder. To correct this thinking, it takes a holistic approach. Everybody has to pitch in,” Haslinda suggested.

“Unfortunately the ones who are willing to help those with GID are the homosexuals and the like,” she added, singling out PT Foundation, a local HIV and AIDS advocacy group which has worked with vulnerable communities for 27 years.

She also warned that there is a thin line between GID and homosexuality, as she recalled another effeminate male respondent who confessed his affinity for men, and claimed that the respondent had even dated married men.

Hundreds of Muslims attended the forum organised by Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim) in the Al-Islam Specialist Hospital, which was titled GID: From medical and psychosocial perspectives.

Other panelists at the forum were two medical doctors from the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), including Prof Dr Abdul Hamid Abdul Rahman, a senior lecturer and psychiatrist specialising in neuropsychiatry.

Dr Abdul Hamid explained that it was impossible to describe how much GID is influenced by genetics or environment, adding that there is little success of “rehabilitating” transgenders into accepting their sex that is assigned at birth.

“Whether it is treatable or not, we can treat them; but whether it is successful or not is the problem… Malaysians medical doctors don’t have much experience in this. They don’t come to us, and we don’t have much expertise in this field,” Dr Abdul Hamid said.

Another panelist was Assoc Prof Dr Ani Amelia Zainuddin, a pediatrician with UKMMC’s Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department specialising in disorders of sex development, which is also known as intersex or hermaphroditism.

Dr Ani explained that her patients who were born with both genitals mostly continued to live as women, but some chose to live as men as they identify better with males.

Despite that, Dr Ani admitted that it is no longer simple to determine someone’s sex just by looking at their genitals, as one should also consider the reproductive organs, sex chromosomes, sex hormones, and even the organisation of the brain.

The forum was held after the Court of Appeal ruled on November 7 that a Negri Sembilan Shariah law outlawing cross-dressing is inconsistent with the Federal Constitution, and failed to take into account medical evidences of GID.

Transgender activists estimated that there are around 60,000 Malaysian who identify as transgenders, with Malays making up 70 per cent of them.