From: NewNowNext
You might not have heard of Tiwi Islands, a remote territory off the coast of northern Australia, but its a haven for transgender people.
As much as 5% of the population identify as Yimpininni or “sistergirls,” a term referring to transgender and genderfluid people on the island, including children as young as 6.
Though they are largely accepted by their community, sistergirls still face harassment, domestic abuse and sexual violence. The influence of Western culture and Christian missionaries has made life difficult for nonbinary people on the island.
“At age 10 I knew I was a sistergirl,” says one woman. “It was really, really, very hard for me to come out because my parents are really strict and didn’t want me to be out there… They wanted me to be saved.”
Many sistergirls must leave their community to seek hormone treatments and therapy: “What we really need now is some specialized services to deal with sistergirl issues,” says Nyarli Kerinaiua, 34.
“We [older sistergirls] just want up-and-coming sistergirls to go straight forward with no problems, no struggles. We don’t want them picking up the pieces.”
Indigenous writer Steven Ross, who is gay, told the Daily Mail that while there is homophobia and transphobia on the islands, “there is also deep love and unconditional acceptance—we’re all human in the end and that’s all.”
According to Amnesty International, there are approximately 50 sistergirls on the Tiwi Islands, out of a population of 2,500.
Crystal Johnson Kerinaiua, a.k.a. Crystal Love, travels throughout Australia to educate on LGBT issues, and acts as a surrogate mother to the sistergirls.
“It doesn’t matter if nobody else wants you,” she says. “If nobody else wants you, then you are mine.”
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