XPost: md.politics, dc.general, alt.politics.guns   
   XPost: alt.connecticut   
   From: ahall@yahoo.com   
      
   The uncharacteristic showing of a transsexual on a popular   
   Tunisian chat show this week has stirred a debate online,   
   reflecting the divided nature of Tunisian society.   
      
   Born “Leila”, but going by the name “Jalel,” the transsexual   
   appeared on Andi Mankolek (“I Have Something to Tell You”) – a   
   program that enjoys the highest viewership among Tunisian   
   television channels – explaining that he was registered as   
   female at birth but has long identified as a man.   
      
   Responding to a question about whether his family considered him   
   a male or a female, Jalel said: “They have always known me as a   
   female, and they still do treat me as one,” Jalel said.   
      
    Jalel, who revealed that he has been using hormonal treatment   
   to look and sound like a man, explained that he wants to undergo   
   a sex reassignment surgery but cannot because such surgeries are   
   illegal in the tiny North African nation. A Tunisian female   
   footballer grabbed headlines in 2013 when she legally changed   
   her status from female to male after court consent. But such   
   incidents seldom take place.   
      
   “From the outside, I am a man. But inside, I am a woman. But   
   deeper inside, I am a man,” Jalel, wearing a pair of sunglasses   
   that concealed his identity, said, explaining his dilemma.   
      
   “I have always felt like a man,” he went on. “I am rejecting my   
   femininity because I have never felt it. I never felt it because   
   my brain has been programed to be a man; in the way I think, the   
   way I speak, and the way I walk.”   
      
   In Tunisia, homosexuality is a crime punishable by law, with up   
   to three years in jail. Fearing legal repercussions and social   
   discrimination and intimidation, Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and   
   transgender (LGBT) persons seldom appear on media outlets,   
   making Jalel’s appearance on the show a first.   
      
   In a traditionally Muslim country, which is also known to be one   
   of the Arab world’s most progressive, Jalel’s story sparked   
   mixed reactions on social media.   
      
   “These are lies. God created her as female and her name is   
   Leila. She rejected her femininity and she is going to be   
   punished for this on Judgment Day,” said a Facebook user.   
      
   “This woman, and the likes of her, does not need an operation as   
   she claims because she wants to change God’s creation. She needs   
   the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS); this is her   
   solution,” said a commentator on Ettounsia’s website. ISIS   
   reportedly stoned two homosexual men to death in Syria November   
   last year.   
      
   An interview with Tunisia’s grand mufti, Othman Battikh, in   
   which he declared that sex reassignment surgeries are sinful in   
   Islam, was also played during the show. Battikh noted that   
   “corrective surgery” was only allowed in the event the “patient”   
   proved to have hormonal abnormalities.   
      
   Responding to the mufti’s clip, Jalel, who is biologically a   
   female, said his gender dilemma was internal and not hormonal.   
   “So if it is sinful, do I continue living this way forever?”   
      
   “The mufti is clear. Go to a psychiatrist and you will be fine,”   
   said another commentator.   
      
   Others sympathized with his plight, however. “This person is   
   going through a lot of struggle that no one understands except   
   his creator. And our modern-proclaimed society is mocking him,”   
   said one commenter.   
      
   In a Facebook statement, LGBT rights group “Kelmty” hailed Jalel   
   as a transsexual Tunisian citizen “who had courage to announce   
   and assert his right to exist within his conception about   
   himself.”   
      
   “Religion continues to deny the psychological component of the   
   human being although it is one that maintains a real balance   
   within the person,” it added.   
      
   The group also criticized the show host Ala Chebbi’s insistence   
   to use Jalel’s legal name “Leila” – despite Jalel’s request to   
   be call by his preferred name – saying it exposed Chebbi’s   
   “disrespect toward the man who is fighting to exist.”   
      
   Between sympathizers and critics, some viewers praised the show   
   for pushing the limits of freedom of speech, saying such “taboo   
   subjects” need to be brought forward to the public sphere.   
      
   Many Tunisians are not aware of certain things, journalism   
   student Sarra Mouelhi told Al Arabiya News. This is why “it is   
   important to discuss such sensitive topics in public,” she added.   
      
   Discussing Jalel’s case in such a popular show is a “great idea”   
   as it will raise awareness among the public and “those ‘cases’   
   will probably find ways to change their lives for the better,”   
   Mouelhi said.   
      
   “The Tunisian people are now capable of discussing such   
   sensitive topics given the freedom of expression that the   
   country is experiencing,” said Jihed Abid, a trainee computer   
   engineer.   
      
   “This case, or homosexuality in general, are not new in Tunisia.   
   But no one faced the reality of their existence before, or dared   
   to have a discussion about them.”   
      
   Albeit still prejudiced in society, LGBT individuals have been   
   increasingly joining the public sphere since the ousting of   
   strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, using social media   
   and the Internet to voice their dissent.   
      
   An online magazine for homosexuals in Tunisia and the wider   
   Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Gayday, was founded shortly   
   after the revolution and grabbed attention for breaking the   
   taboo.   
      
   Following a televised declaration by former Human Rights   
   Minister Samir Dilou, in which he said that “there were limits   
   to freedom” and that homosexuals were “sick” people that need to   
   be hospitalized, the demand for a legal framework that would   
   protect LGBT rights grew louder.   
      
   But onlookers express that so long as the law is based on   
   religion, there is little that can be done for the LGBT   
   community.   
      
   “Our legislation is based on Islam,” said law student Eya   
   Belhaj. “It is sinful to change your sex, and sinful to act like   
   anything but your sex.”   
      
   “He [Jalel] will never be able to change his sex on papers, even   
   if he takes it to court.”   
      
   http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/features/2015/01/11/   
   Tunisian-transsexual-sparks-debate-after-appearing-on-popular-TV-   
   show-.html   
      
           
      
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