Nalutporn Krairiksh — Promoting intersectional advocacy for the rights of marginalized groups
This is the fourth in a six part series featuring interviews with Thai lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) activists and allies on their motivations, the issues that concern them most, their views on progress to-date and looking ahead.
Nalutporn Krairiksh (Nu) is a journalist, a writer and a strong LGBTI ally. She has worked at Prachatai news since 2016, focusing specifically on promoting gender equality in Thailand. She is also the founder of www.ThisAble.me — an online platform that publishes news, human interest stories and multimedia reports about disabled persons and disability rights. It is Nu’s belief that writing is a powerful and effective tool for raising awareness. Her writings touch on almost every aspect of human life, and at the top of her agenda are human rights and inclusion. In this interview, she emphasizes how LGBTI and disability rights activists can achieve wider and much more inclusive goals if they put intersectionality into practice in their advocacy.
How did you become so passionate about gender equality?
Nu: To be honest, not that long ago I did not know much about gender nor think of it as an important issue. Prachatai, a news agency that advocates for the rights of minorities, needed someone to write about gender equality and I thought why not. I still remember the first project that I worked on — it was about transgender people in the Thai military. While working on it, even though I don’t belong to any of the LGBTI acronyms, I found myself well connected to the issue. This is in the sense that persons with disabilities can relate as we often also experience discrimination and are the targets of verbal abuse. Our potential and abilities are overlooked with prejudice. We face and try to overcome quite similar problems. LGBTI communities not only became a new source of information for me, but also my family — a very warm one.
To what extent is a website for disabled persons relevant for LGBTI people?
Nu: You know, to a great extent the gender of disabled persons can be diverse too. Whatever problem LGBTI communities are encountering, we are too and also get affected. Moreover, these challenges are imposed on top of what we have to deal with on a daily basis. On the first layer, disabled persons are socially perceived to be pitied and unable to do or complete certain tasks like others. I know for a fact that this is not always the case. Then the second layer, I do not know why but it is a general assumption that having disability bars us from being anything else but heterosexual. That we are either men or women. That we do not have other sexual orientations or even desires. Some disabled persons are attracted to people of the same sex and this is not a new trend.
One of my friends shared a story with me of her becoming a trans woman. Her family consistently raises a question that is so easy to answer, “You are on a wheelchair, why do you need to become a woman?” Why can she not? Everyone deserves to be in the right body and be himself or herself. Disabled or LGBTI or not, it does not make us any less of a human physically and emotionally.
Both communities are considered marginalized. We are not granted enough rights and protections. And, when you are a disabled LGBTI person, the obstacles double and the journey to overcome these challenges becomes even more testing. Things just get a lot tougher.
“Disabled or LGBTI or not, it does not make us any less of a human physically and emotionally.”
Describe why both disabled and LGBTI persons may experience the same social stigma, exclusion and discrimination.
Nu: Because we do not look like the majority of people and not enough is known about us, we become an alienated target. The way we live and behave is deemed different. The confines of normality need an extension, as people who use wheelchairs or cross-dress are still labeled abnormal. Society is not well aware of how diverse humans can be, let alone how to treat them. They are not educated and provided with sufficient information and knowledge that there is actually nothing wrong with us. Discrimination, stigmatization and mockery stereotyping are all a result of this.
Are there any legal protections or policies that you are advocating for to address the issues faced by marginalized groups of people?
Nu: Not particularly, I am much more concerned about the implementation of those laws and policies that have already been enacted. I believe that Thailand has a good list of laws, but more efforts should be made towards carrying them out as effectively as they are written.
I have witnessed how much more inclusive the laws have become and how strong, consistent and successful LGBTI and disabled communities in Thailand are when it comes to advocacy, yet the inequality remains present. Rigid punitive measures need to be put in place to deter the repetition of wrongdoing, this applies really well to anti-discrimination policies.
Take this for instance, there is a law stating that disabled persons shall not be discriminated in public transportation, but it is very uncommon for us to be able to get on a bus in the first place. In 2015, Thailand saw its first Gender Equality Act. Then we promote our country as being LGBTI-friendly, also known as a ‘Gay Paradise’. Realistically, this requires an excellent level of national cultural awareness, which of course should start with education. Now, most current textbooks or curriculum teach our young and new generation that LGBTI is a synonym of deviance. It associates a normal human being with the 32 parts of the body, either man or woman. You see the pattern. We have a clear vision of what we want to see happen but whether we get there is another story.
“I see disabled persons become feminists working on women’s rights. I see LGBTI people in the academic world and in positions of power. The portrayal grows into something more positive and concrete. As a writer, those are the signs of progress.”
What are the key areas of changes or progress you have seen?
Nu: In the world of writing, I have noticed an outstanding number of new actors in the field. I have seen people, who have no connection whatsoever with LGBTI and disabled people, write and care about the two. The content they write about is also new. It is not the same old thing we read. It is not about how people and government should give sympathy and rights, but rather, how both minority groups contribute and fit in society as a general member of the public. I see disabled persons become feminists working on women’s rights. I see LGBTI people in the academic world and in positions of power. The portrayal grows into something more positive and concrete. As a writer, those are the signs of progress.
Tell us about the project you are currently working on and the vision you have for it.
Nu: I am writing to raise basic awareness of being disabled and/or LGBTI. The themes are as diverse as aspects of human life. For example, why is it considered fortunate that I was able to graduate from university when the whole rest of the country can do it? Can disabled persons have a partner? Does the partner also have to be disabled? Can disabled people build a family? Trans women are great at doing makeup, hair and fashion. How are trans men supposed to have or raise kids? These are the kinds of attitudes I want to change. I want both disabled and LGBTI people to be perceived as like any other human and for them to live happy lives and be given opportunities to thrive in whatever they are good at. Disabled people should overcome their disabilities and engage in LGBTI activism.
Attend Pride, go big!
Another vision that I wish to see is for both communities to include one another and move forward together. I want to bring together both sides of activists so that collaborative work plans can be discussed. We need to be part of each other’s movements because the final results are for our mutual benefit.
“We need to be part of each other’s movements because the final results are for our mutual benefit.”
Being LGBTI in Asia is a regional programme aimed at addressing inequality, violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status, and promotes universal access to health and social services. For more information on Being LGBTI in Asia, visit: http://www.asia-pacific.undp.org/content/rbap/en/home/operations/projects/overview/being-lgbt-in-asia/.
Note: Using a preferred gender pronoun is one way of showing respect and acknowledging a person’s gender identity. Throughout this series, care has been taken to ensure that the preferred gender pronoun of interview subjects has been used.
