Hello everyone, recently I've seen discussions about transgender rights in China. Some people argue that the government is relatively accepting while the general public is not. Others argue the opposite, that ordinary people are becoming more accepting but government policies have not caught up.
As a transgender woman from China who was granted refugee status in Canada because of risks of persecution related to my gender identity, I wanted to share some context that I don't think is widely known outside the Chinese-speaking world.
From my perspective, the Chinese government has continued to restrict transgender people's lives in a number of ways, including restricting access to HRT through online sales, allowing or failing to stop conversion programs operating under the name of special education or behavioral correction, and heavily censoring online discussions about transgender issues while shutting down many LGBTQ+ organizations and student groups.
At the same time, one thing that often surprises me is how common anti-trans language is in everyday Chinese.
The most common slur used against transgender women is "renyao". The term became especially associated with Thai pre-op or non-op transgender women and other people assigned male at birth who worked in the sex industry (or more broadly, it is often used in Chinese contexts with the assumption that they are or have been involved in sex work), and it is still used particularly frequently when referring to them.
I've often seen it translated simply as the T-slur, but I don't think that fully conveys its meaning. Literally, the word combines the characters for "ren" (human) and "yao". While "yao", in this context, evokes something inhuman, monstrous, or demonic. A literal rendering would be something like "human monster" or "human demon." Whether or not one thinks that is the best translation, the important point is that it carries a strong sense of dehumanization in Chinese.
This isn't an obscure insult used only by extremists. It is extremely common in everyday conversation and online comments. I've heard it used by people of all ages, from young people to older generations. Different regions also have their own local slurs for transgender women.
Ironically, terms like "otokonoko", which originated in Japanese erotic media, and are themselves often inaccurate or offensive when applied to transgender women, are actually considered relatively mild compared to "renyao" in many online discussions. The same is true for terms such as "femboy" or "transsexual." Compared to slurs like "yinyangren" (a slur implying someone is neither properly male nor female), "er yizi" (a regional slur for effeminate men, gay men, and transgender women), or "pijing" ("ass spirit," a vulgar slur for gay men), these terms are often considered relatively mild.
So, I wanted to provide this cultural and linguistic context that I rarely see discussed in English-language conversations.
For those of you in Western trans communities, how do you currently view the state of transgender rights in China? Has your impression changed over the years, and were you aware of the prevalence and connotations of the word "renyao" before reading this?
