In The Spotlight: The story of Janlee Dungca, trans woman and gender equality advocate
Tolerated, but not accepted. While this year’s #PrideMarch was more successful than ever, the Philippines as a country has a long way to go before truly becoming a safe space for the LGBTQI community. Just recently, there was news about a trans woman who experienced discrimination in a Quezon City mall. Gretchen Custodio Diez just wanted to use the female restroom, but was humiliated and arrested.
Among the LGBT community, trans people are statistically proven to be the most misunderstood, stigmatized, and discriminated against. Unlike the LGB which are sexual orientations or the sex one is attracted to, transgenderism has to do with sexual orientation or the sex one identifies with. To better understand the issues they face, we talked to Janlee Dungca, a proud trans woman and gender equality advocate, about her experiences and her transition story.
Project Headshot Clinic
Janlee was in high school when she came out as gay to her friends and family. She knew early on that she was attracted to men, but it wasn’t until she was in college that she realized she identified as a woman. She educated herself about transgenderism, and later came out a second time as a trans woman. “Gender and sexuality are fluid,” Janlee tells me. Even now, she remains open to the possibility of her sexuality changing in the future.
In March 2013, Janlee decided that it was time to do the physical transition to bridge the gap between how she looked on the outside and how she felt on the inside. She saw an endocrinologist and underwent hormone replacement therapy. Taking hormone medication is now part of her regular routine, and one that she’s happy to keep at for the rest of her life. Since doing HRT, Janlee has noticed positive changes in her psyche and physique. “I’m more confident with who I am, more in tune with who I am.” She shares how her skin has become softer and smoother. Her body hair has become thinner and, to a small degree, her body fat was redistributed from her waist to her hips. She also attributes her increased emotional sensitivity to her medication.
While she used to think she should have transitioned earlier, Janlee realized that it all worked out at the right time. This is what she advises anyone who is considering going into transition, and even coming out. She says, “There is no deadline. Take your time. We put so much emphasis and importance in coming out but we shouldn’t pressure people to come out. Everyone should come out at his or her own pace. You are as much a member of the community as someone who is openly out. Whatever feels right is right.”
I asked Janlee how transitioning affected her views on beauty. For her, beauty and transitioning are closely intertwined. There is a term in the trans community known as passability. A trans person who “passes” is one whose looks are accepted to be aligned with the gender they identify with. Like other Filipino women, Janlee grew up influenced by the high standards of beauty that glorified Western and Eurocentric features. Watching celebrities on the screen and seeing models in magazines, Janlee didn’t want to just pass as a woman. She felt the pressure to be considered beautiful as well.
The transition process helped her to realize that how she looked was not as important as she once thought. Trans people are expected to look like the gender they identify with, but the reality is that not everyone can achieve passability. Some may not be able to afford physical transition, while others face the fear of being ostracized. Yet even without hormone replacement therapy and/or gender reassignment surgery, their identities are still valid. Being a trans person is a state of being, and it goes beyond what people can see and accept on the outside. Janlee says that this is something that more people should educate themselves about.
“Many people think we are accepted, but we are not. We are only tolerated and people only tolerate what they don’t like.” While Janlee is thankful that she has never experienced grave acts of discrimination, she knows that it’s something she doesn’t share with many in her community. There may be fewer cases of offenses but gender based crimes continue to happen, and one crime is one too many. “In light of the recent incident with Gretchen, I hope more people will open their minds. At the end of the day, we’re just humans who want to use the bathroom - we’re not there to abuse anyone. It’s a basic need.” Janlee hopes that more people will try to educate themselves about the experiences of the LGBT community.
If Janlee had a choice, she admits that she wouldn’t want to be a trans woman because of the hardships involved. “We didn’t choose this; we were born with this. I just want to live my truth, and we just want to be true to who we are,” Janlee explains. “That it’s just a phase, that it’s not real, and that we’re just imagining it - if people can just open their minds to understanding and accepting us. Studies prove that our brains are wired the same way as a biological woman.”
So how do we become better allies to the LGBT community? Janlee tells me never to assume that gender identity is internal. If we’re not sure, it’s okay to politely ask, as long as the intention is to understand and respect. “We need to keep educating people. We still have a long way to go in terms of education, and enacting the right bills and laws to ensure equality for everyone.”
Empathy, understanding and hopefully acceptance all begin with an open mind and the willingness to learn about what the LGBT community is about. Janlee encourages talking to community members as well as finding unbiased information sources. “People fear what they do not know and what they don’t understand. And what they don’t understand, they try to destroy.”
Photos courtesy of Janlee Dungca
