Having read the religious views on homosexuality, I feel compelled to relate an event that happened many years ago.

I had a client who came to see me after a sex change operation. He is a Malaysian citizen and sought advice as to whether he can change the gender on his birth certificate and his name in the IC. The short answer: you cannot change your gender, but you can add an alias to your name in the IC. However, by deed poll you can change your name.

The client came to me with his parents who are professionals and they have three other children, all are boys. The mother relayed to me that as long as she can remember, my client had female tendencies like playing with cosmetics. They had consulted child psychologists but none seemed able to correct his tendencies. They were told that he is just born with such characteristic.

In school my client suffered and had to endure the taunts of being labeled pondan or mak nyah . His brothers were ashamed of him and he is the source of a family embarrassment.

At 20, he left the house and joined a boutique. According to my client that was the only time he felt accepted and understood by other humans. Certainly the people around him have similar traits and characteristics. My client later managed to join a group of entertainers all of whom are female impersonators of famous actress or singers. He now has a boyfriend and they have a sexual relationship.

The point which I would like to make to people like Steve Oh, who quote passages from the Holy Bible condemning homosexuality: aren't people like my client also children of God? Are they not a product of His creation? His parents were God-fearing and church-going people who finally accepted that their child is special (for want of a better word).

This social problem has been swept under the carpet in Malaysia until now, with the appointment of Rev Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. The appointment is a grave source of embarrassment to all Christians, denominations notwithstanding.

Our churches have come out resoundingly to make strong condemnations against homosexuality without thinking about people like my client. I can assure you that my client is no devil incarnate or Satan, he is just a poor soul caught in a woman's body and like any one of you holy gooders, a child of His creation.

I ask sensible Christians out there not to prejudge the issue of homosexuality and give it a blanket condemnation. Please reflect and consider the plight of those like my client.