Vivian Rubiyanti Iskandar (born January 1, 1944; middle name also spelled Rubianti and Rubianty) is the first trans person legally recognised by the Indonesian courts as their true gender.

Early life

Born on January 1, 1944, to Khan Kiam Lee and Auw Roontji Nio, Vivian was a Chinese citizen at birth. Owing to the

Sino-Indonesian Dual Nationality Treaty The Agreement on the Issue of Dual Nationality between the Republic of Indonesia and the People's Republic of China (; ), better known as the Sino-Indonesian Dual Nationality Treaty, was a bilateral agreement between the People's Republic of China ...

, she relinquished her Chinese nationality and her

birth name The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

"Khan Kok Hian" in favour of an Indonesian identity, adopting the name "Iwan Robyanto Iskandar". Vivian owned a beauty salon in

Kebayoran Baru Kebayoran Baru is a List of districts of Jakarta, district () in the administrative city of South Jakarta, Indonesia. The name was derived from a planned satellite city of the same name which was developed in the Aftermath of World War II, post-wa ...

called Robby Remaja ("Robby the Revitaliser"), and a number of her apprentices would go on to become household names in the Indonesian beauty industry (e.g. ). In 1971, she played a thug in the film ''Jang Djatuh Dikaki Lelaki'' (Fallen at a Man's Feet).

Transitioning

In January 1973, Vivian underwent gender confirmation surgery at

Kandang Kerbau Hospital KK Women's and Children's Hospital (abbreviation: KKH) is the largest public hospital specialising in healthcare for women and children in Singapore, located at 100 Bukit Timah Road. From its humble beginnings as a small Hospital, general hospi ...

in Singapore. Afterward, she returned to Indonesia and petitioned the for a legal change of gender. This is even though there had theretofore been no Indonesian law concerning legal changes of gender. Her attorney,

Adnan Buyung Nasution Adnan Buyung Nasution, also known as Adnan Bahrum Nasution (20 July 1934 – 23 September 2015) was an Indonesian lawyer, advocate, and activist. Career Nasution founded the Legal Aid Institute in Indonesia. He was well known as a human righ ...

of Jakarta Legal Aid, argued the absence of such a law did not restrict her right to seek this redress. A notable expert witness in her case was noted theologian and reverend , who argued that "according to the Christian faith,

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

anted Anted is the name of the coins issued by Antedios (or Anted), an ancient king of the Iceni, a Brythonic tribe who inhabited the present day county of Norfolk in Britain from approximately the 1st century BCE until the 1st century CE. Only the fi ...

human beings to be happy in their

ives Ives is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Alice Emma Ives (1876–1930), American dramatist, journalist * Burl Ives (1909–1995), American singer, author and actor * Charles Ives (1874–1954), Ame ...

; in pursuance of that, Darmaputera threw the support of the Christian church behind her. The Islamic scholar

Buya Hamka Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, better known by his pen name Hamka (17 February 1908 – 24 July 1981) was an Indonesian ʿālim, philosopher, writer, novelist, lecturer, politician and journalist. First affiliated with the Masyumi Party, until ...

also testified in support of Vivian, saying that " er desire to transitiondoes not run contrary to

Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...

's law, but in keeping with the teachings of Islam, which hold the advances of humankind's science ought to be used to improve the lives of human beings". As a result, the presiding judge granted Vivian's petition, and as of November 11, 1973, she was legally recognised by the Indonesian state as a female named Vivian Rubiyanti Iskandar.

Later life

At some point in the decade, she would go on to own the ''Vivian'' shoe boutique at the Hias Rias Cikini shopping centre. In 1975, she married Felix Rumayar in Jakarta, solemnised under the rites of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Her wedding was attended by several notables, including then-Governor of Jakarta

Ali Sadikin Ali Sadikin (7 July 1926 – 20 May 2008) was an Indonesian politician who served as the fourth governor of Jakarta from 1966 until 1977. Prior to becoming governor, he served as Minister of Transportation from 1963 until 1966 and Coordinating ...

. Vivian gave up on her salon - taking up employment as a sales girl for Viva Cosmetics in

Jogjakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an important centre for cl ...

. Her marriage to Rumayar eventually failed, and she elected to immigrate to Australia. A movie based on her life, ''Akulah Vivian (I Am Vivian)'', was released in 1977, starring herself. Ben Murtagh, in his analysis of the movie, argues that Vivian did not see herself as part of the Waria community, instead understanding herself to firmly fall on one side of a male-female gender binary. Vivian's case has become a landmark one in Indonesian jurisprudence, being cited in similar future decisions as regards a legal change of gender.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubianti, Vivian 1944 births Living people Indonesian emigrants to Australia Indonesian transgender women Indonesian people of Chinese descent Transgender businesspeople 20th-century Indonesian LGBTQ people 21st-century Indonesian LGBTQ people