Hong Kong transgender centre seeks to make the ‘invisible’ visible
Organisation that gives crucial information for people not recognised by law finally finds a home after nearly 10 years
Sandwiched between a fishball street stall and a cha chaan teng, or local teahouse, in an old neighbourhood in Hong Kong, a distinctive rainbow flag stands out.
After almost 10 years of being “invisible” in society because of a lack of resources to set up a permanent venue, non-profit Transgender Resource Centre has finally opened its door in a city where transgender people have yet to be recognised legally.
“It’s really important to be visible in society,” says its founder and chairwoman Joanne Leung Wing-yan, while standing at the entrance of the two-storey centre and handing out promotion pamphlets entitled The Book of Transgender in Hong Kong.
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“We are giving people a chance to know more about the transgender community so it doesn’t really matter whether they support or disagree.”
Leung, who was born a boy and later underwent a sex-change surgery, first set up the group in July 2008 with an aim to raise awareness by organising social events and providing counselling services to the city’s transgender men and women and their families.
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The group did not have a fixed venue until December last year, when a space became available in Whampoa, Kowloon.
Leung, 54, says that is because the centre was originally a psychiatric clinic run by her friend and psychiatrist Dr Gregory Mak Kai-lok.