Trans people ID card policy slammed

HONG KONG - Hong Kong activists and lawyers slammed a new policy governing the changing of gender on ID cards yesterday, 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 yesterday 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 such as removal of the breasts, penis and testes.

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.

Tse said he would continue pursuing a case he initiated

last month accusing the government of “unreasonable delay” in implementing last year’s court ruling.

Photo: Contributed At last… The Swakopmund Museum has started exhibiting the history of the 1904-08 genocide committed against the Nama and Ovaherero communities for the first time in 125 years.