‘Legitimate’ to make transgender people get full sex reassignment to amend Hong Kong ID, court hears
Government lawyer refutes claim the requirement is inhuman or degrading
Complete sex reassignment surgery is a “legitimate and sometimes necessary medical treatment”, the Hong Kong government argued in court on Wednesday, rejecting claims that requiring transgender people to undergo it before amending their local identity cards was cruel, inhuman or degrading.
“It’s a legitimate medical treatment practised by doctors around the world, including in the public health system in Hong Kong,” said Stewart K M Wong SC, for the government.
“It cannot be described as inhuman or degrading. That would require a level of severity.”
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Wong, for the government, argued that a “fair number of European countries” still imposed a similar requirement.
It’s a legitimate medical treatment practised by doctors around the world
The senior counsel tried to refute the argument that transgender people were being coerced into surgery they did not want.
“It has always been with their full informed consent,” he said, adding they had a range of options.