Hong Kong policy for transgender ID draws activists’ flak
As per new rules, applicants for changing gender on ID cards must submit proof of certain surgeries.
Hong Kong activists and lawyers slammed a new policy governing the changing of gender on ID cards on Wednesday, saying the rule shift, which follows a court decision, still requires invasive surgery.
The city’s top court decided in 2023 that it was unconstitutional for the government to require a person to complete full gender reassignment surgery before the “sex entry” on their ID card could be changed. The policy presented “an unacceptably harsh burden on the individuals concerned”, the Court of Final Appeal ruled at the time.
But new rules revealed by authorities on Wednesday keep most of the existing surgical requirements — dropping only the need for applicants to remove their uterus and ovaries or to construct a vagina. Applicants must still submit proof of having completed surgeries to modify sexual characteristics. They must also show that they have experienced gender dysphoria, have lived as their preferred gender for at least two years and will do so for the rest of their lives, and have undergone hormonal treatments and will continue those treatments. Henry Tse, one of the activists behind the successful lawsuit last year, said he had “major questions and worries” about the tweaked rules, which also require regular blood tests and telling the government about changes in address and phone number.
Advocacy group Quarks and the Hong Kong Trans Law Database said in a statement that they were “extremely disappointed”. “The new policy continues to violate transgender people’s right to privacy and bodily integrity,” the groups said.