help them get an apartment, or have rented through a middleman in order to avoid
trouble.102
Xiao Zhou uses a fake ID card with a photo of a pretty young woman on it. Even though
she knows it’s illegal, she takes the risk for the sake of survival.103 Many end up living
a double life; they normally dress as woman, but when they need to use their ID cards,
they dress as men.
Xiao Die, from Henan, has breast implants, but hasn’t undergone SRS:
“There are difficulties, for example, staying at a hotel, applying for a bank
card or dealing with other kinds of documents is very troublesome. It’s the
inconsistency between my ID card and my appearance. For getting a bank
card, they want you to come in personally, and they don’t believe I’m the same
person. If I don’t get the operation, I can’t change my ID card, and if I can’t
change my ID card, what do I do?”104
Sometimes when Jiaojiao goes on business trips, she can’t find a place to stay,
because when hotels see that her appearance doesn’t match her ID card, they refuse
to give her a room.105
Taking a train or an airplane can also subject transgender people to lengthy
interrogation and examination. Suxi is a performer as well as a sex worker: “One time
I had to go out of town for a performance, and I had my makeup on, but when I went
to check in at the airport, they insisted I wasn’t the person on my ID card. They finally
gave me an examination and acknowledged that it was me, but by then I’d missed my
flight and didn’t make it to the performance.”106
Engagement in Sex Work
All of the 70 interviewees were engaged in some sort of sex work and did so in
women’s attire and under a female identity. All were independent sex workers,
without a boss or third party; seven also performed in bars or clubs. Among the 70
102 Interview with Yanyan, Shanghai, June 16, 2014, Shanghai; interview with Xiao Shao, April 20, 2014; interview with Feifei, Beijing, April 20, 2014;
interview with Tian Yuyao, Beijing, April 12, 2014; Interview with Mingming, Shanghai, April 25, 2014.
103 Interview with Xiao Zhou, Beijing, April 29, 2014.
104 Interview with Xiao Die, Shanghai ,May 17, 2014.
105 Interview with Jiaojiao, Beijing, June 1, 2014.
106 Interview with Suxi, Beijing, May 27, 2014.
28