VN transsexuals fight discrimination

HCM CITY — Feeling that "something was not quite right", Nguyen Thai Tai spent more than US$30,000 a year ago on sex-change surgery.

Tai, who works as a beautician in HCM City, is the first person in the city to undergo such an operation.

"I’ve been very happy since I became a woman," she said.

With an oval face and long brown hair, the 30-year-old Thai Tai looks every bit the woman, delicately and skilfully applying make up to her clients.

"Since I was very young, I dreamed of becoming a girl. Although my parents treated me like a boy, I myself thought I was a girl.