Malaysian government considers counting transsexuals as they identify

The government in conservative, mostly Muslim Malaysia will consider a request to recognize transsexual men as women, a newspaper reported Sunday. Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, head of the Women and Family Development Ministry, said she would respond soon to a request from a group of male-to-female transsexuals that they be legally recognized as women, the Star newspaper reported. “We want to give this group some dignity so that they can move around in the community without being looked down upon,” Shahrizat said. “This is very important.”