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Paper short abstract:

The paper is based on a series of interviews with trans activists from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan conducted in spring 2022. It seeks to describe challenges faced by trans people in the region in the social, legal and medical spheres and how trans activists respond to them.

Paper long abstract:

While LGBT activism in Central Asia has received some scholarly attention, trans issues are mentioned by researchers only in passing. At the same time, trans politics oftentimes focuses on different topics and follows different trajectories. The present paper is based on a series of interviews with trans activists from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan conducted in spring 2022. It seeks to describe challenges faced by trans people in the region in the social, legal and medical spheres and how trans activists respond to them. Trans people face persuasive discrimination which results in their lack of access to education and employment, harassment and violence. While trans-specific medical services (hormonal therapy, surgeries) are available, their quality leaves much to be desired. Even when legal gender recognition is possible, it requires psychiatric assessment and medical interventions. To counter these adverse circumstances, trans activists employ a number of activities, including trainings to develop skills and raise capacity of trans people, awareness-raising events for doctors and policy-makers, advocacy with authorities and (rarely) public protests. The author tries to link developments within activism to broader political processes and distribution of resources. The procedure of legal gender recognition in Kyrgyzstan is good example of how broader politics intervenes in the lives of trans people: the possibility to amend one's legal gender was removed from legislation soon after Sadyr Japarov coming to power. At the same time, respondents contend that developments in other spheres are largely independent of general politics. They report increased awareness and capacity within communities and among friendly specialists as a result of activists' interventions. All in all, the study reveals a complex picture of trans activism in Central Asia where activists push for change despite adverse conditions.