What does it mean to live in a country where you were born and raised, but not be legally recognized as belonging to it? And what happens when the absence of citizenship intersects with discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression?
These questions are at the heart of ASEAN SOGIE Caucus’ exploratory study, An Exploratory Study on the Lived Experiences of Stateless Queer in Sabah, Malaysia: Wellbeing, Citizenship, and Human Rights.
Statelessness in Sabah is shaped by a long and complex history of migration, displacement, restrictive citizenship policies, and cross-border movement between Sabah and neighboring parts of the Philippines and Indonesia. For generations, communities have moved across borders that today determine who is legally recognized as a citizen and who is not.
For queer and transgender people living without citizenship or secure documentation, these structural barriers are compounded by another layer of exclusion: discrimination based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
The study shows that statelessness is not simply about lacking an identity card or passport. It determines whether someone can go to school, access healthcare, find formal employment, move freely without fear of arrest, or seek protection when they experience violence. For stateless queer people, these exclusions can be intensified by gender and sexuality.
Listening to Lived Experiences
The research used a qualitative exploratory approach to understand how stateless queer individuals experience and navigate citizenship exclusion in their everyday lives.
Data collection was conducted in Sabah in June 2025 through semi-structured interviews, key informant interviews, and document and policy analysis. Participants were recruited using purposive and chain-referral sampling, with support from trusted civil society and grassroots networks.
Ten in-depth interviews were initially conducted with stateless trans women and gay men in areas including Kota Kinabalu, Semporna, Tawau, and Lahad Datu. Following eligibility screening, one interview was excluded, leaving nine eligible participants in the final analysis. Participants included stateless and formerly stateless queer individuals who were undocumented, held temporary legal statuses such as IMM13, or had recently obtained Malaysian citizenship after prolonged periods of statelessness.
The study also drew on interviews with civil society actors and analyzed relevant laws, policies, human rights reports, and academic literature to situate participants’ experiences within the broader legal and political context.
Because of the sensitivity of statelessness and queer identity in Malaysia, the research prioritized confidentiality and participant safety. Pseudonyms were used, interviews were conducted in safe and discreet settings, participation was voluntary, and identifying information was removed.
The term “stateless queer” is used in the report as an umbrella and political term to describe people whose lived experiences challenge heteronormative and cisgender norms while also being affected by statelessness. Empirically, however, this exploratory study focuses specifically on stateless and formerly stateless trans women and gay men in Sabah.
Statelessness Is More Than Missing Documents
One of the clearest findings from the research is that statelessness in Sabah cannot be reduced to individual failures to obtain documentation.
Participants’ experiences reveal how statelessness can be produced and reproduced through historical migration, displacement, restrictive citizenship laws, late or unregistered births, undocumented or mixed-nationality parents, family separation, and opaque administrative procedures.
The study identifies several patterns, including intergenerational statelessness; statelessness arising from mixed-nationality or unregistered marriages; abandoned or orphaned children without access to documentation; and borderland communities whose identities do not fit neatly within contemporary national boundaries.
Some participants were born and raised in Sabah but remained without citizenship well into adulthood. Others inherited precarious legal status from their parents or lost access to documentation because of family breakdown, displacement, poverty, or administrative barriers.
Even where legal pathways to citizenship technically exist, participants described processes that were lengthy, unclear, and highly dependent on bureaucratic discretion. Civil society organizations and informal community networks often became essential intermediaries for people trying to navigate a system they could not access on their own.
The Right to Belong
The experiences documented in this study demonstrate that statelessness is not merely an administrative problem. It is a human rights issue that determines who can access education, healthcare, employment, legal protection, and freedom of movement—and ultimately, who is recognized as belonging.
For queer and transgender people, these inequalities can become even more severe when citizenship exclusion intersects with criminalization, transphobia, homophobia, and gender policing.
The research calls for clearer and more accessible pathways to citizenship; inclusive access to education, healthcare, employment, and other public services; gender-affirming legal recognition and public services; stronger anti-discrimination protections; greater support for civil society and community-based organizations; psychosocial and mental health services; and stronger regional cooperation on statelessness and cross-border exclusion.
Most importantly, the findings remind us that stateless queer people should not be understood simply as populations waiting to be helped. They are individuals with aspirations, families, communities, knowledge, and the capacity to contribute to society. Their experiences raise a fundamental question about citizenship itself: Who is allowed to belong, and what happens to those whom the state refuses to recognize?
Read the full research: An Exploratory Study on the Lived Experiences of Stateless Queer in Sabah, Malaysia: Wellbeing, Citizenship, and Human Rights.
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