World News | Hong Kong Transgender Men Win Appeal over Status Change

Hong Kong, Feb 6 (AP) Hong Kong's top court ruled Monday that full sex reassignment surgery should not be a prerequisite for transgender people to have their gender changed on their official identity cards, in a move that is likely to have a far-reaching impact on the transgender community.

A transgender activist, Henry Edward Tse, and a person identified only as Q appealed to the court last month over the government's refusal to change the genders on their ID cards because of their decision not to have full sex reassignment surgeries.

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Tse and Q are both transgender men who have had their breasts removed, received hormonal treatments and lived their lives as males with professional support and guidance as well as psychiatric treatment.

The judgment by the Court of Final Appeal is expected to have a wide impact on the LGBTQ community because many of its transgender members consider having the operation unnecessary and risky.

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The two went to court because existing government policy only allows transgender men to change their official gender if they have removed their uteruses and ovaries and constructed male genitalia. Only those who cannot undergo the surgical procedures due to medical reasons can be exempted.

Both the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal dismissed judicial review proceedings brought by Tse and Q. The two were allowed to go to the Court of Final Appeal.

In a judgment made public Monday, the court said the government's policy was unconstitutional and imposed an “unacceptably harsh burden.” They also said that the policy was “disproportionate" in its encroachment upon the rights of the two to gender identity and physical integrity.

The judges also said any administrative issues that usually arise tend to pertain to a transgender person's outward appearance and not the appearance of their genital area, and that leaving the gender on their identity card unamended “produced greater confusion or embarrassment." (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)