I Don't Want to be a Burden: The Resilience of Older Trans Women in Malaysia

This study explores the lived experiences of ageing among trans women in Malaysia—a demographic shaped by intersecting forces of social stigma, legal marginalisation, and cultural resistance. Using creative qualitative methodology, this paper draws from the theme of reliance and independence through course interviews and the "River of Life" visual narratives. The research foregrounds how older trans women exercise resilience and strive for independence amid systemic challenges. Participants, aged 41 to 69, reflect histories of interrupted education, economic precarity, and healthcare barriers, with many turning to informal networks for survival and self-care, including self-directed hormone therapy. Despite enduring discrimination and legal constraints, particularly under Shariah law, these women express strong desires not to be burdens, but instead to live autonomously, often continuing work through informal or entrepreneurial means. Their narratives resist linear models of ageing, offering insight into non-normative temporalities and identity perseverance within a context of limited institutional support. This poster contributes to emerging global scholarship on trans ageing, emphasising Southeast Asian perspectives and the radical strength in the pursuit of a dignified, self-determined later life.