Trans rights progress in Asia hits barricade of tradition, legal maze

TEHRAN/BANGKOK/TOKYO -- Phoenix, a transgender woman living in Iran, dreamt of being able to express her true gender identity every day from the age of eight. "I remember seeing my older cousin in her princess dress at her wedding and thinking, 'I wish I could wear that,'" she said.

Being assigned male at birth was a curse for Phoenix, who asked to be identified only by her first name. She grappled with gender dysphoria throughout her teens and faced regular bullying, harassment and beatings at school for being recognized as queer. On one occasion, she was stoned by a group of strangers while sitting in a park wearing make-up and traditionally masculine clothes.