Shaneel Lal: Being trans is more than gender surgery or hormone therapy

TransGenerations, an eight-part web series, tells the stories of transgender Kiwis from their late 70s to early 20s, documenting the history of trans experience in New Zealand and dispelling stereotypes about who trans people are. In episode seven, host Brady Peeti meets Young New Zealander of the Year, Shaneel Lal.

For trans people, 23-year-old Shaneel needs no introduction. They are front and centre in the fight for this generation’s trans rights while continuing to refine what it means to be trans in today’s world.

The public stage that Shaneel commands is a long way from the small Fijian village where they were born in 2000. At a young age, their feminine energy triggered an intervention from village elders. The attempted “solution” was conversion therapy with prayers, enchanted bracelets to ward off the perceived evil spirits and social isolation from other boys and girls.

“If my queerness wasn’t treated like an evil spirit, it was treated like a virus,” Shaneel said.

Shaneel first had access to the internet at age 12. They learned that they were not alone in their feeling towards gender and sexual orientation. Shaneel’s family moved to New Zealand when they were 15 years old to shield them from more conversion therapy.

Despite being targeted by bullies, Shaneel’s excellence as a student was clear and a teacher helped foster their trans identity.

Shaneel’s brilliance was on full display at age 19 during a speech for New Zealand’s Youth Parliament. The internet responded and their words went viral.

The moment kickstarted a successful campaign to ban conversion therapy in New Zealand and Shaneel’s public profile continued to grow. Now, they are a New Zealand Herald columnist and model as well as an activist.

It hasn’t been smooth seas for Shaneel even within the LGBTQ community. Shaneel doesn’t always feel like they see their reflection in the community, which they say is mostly white with more stringent divisions in gender identities.

There is also a tendency for the older trans generations to over-emphasise gender surgeries and hormone therapy, they said. This divide has led Shaneel to further understand their identity as vakasalewalewa, a word that describes the tradition and identity of trans people in Fiji.

“My hope for a lot of queer and trans folk is they get to grow up in a world where their identity isn’t something they have to think about it,” they said.

TransGenerations is made with the support of NZ On Air. To follow the series, see nzherald.co.nz/transgenerations