Letters | Full sex change for transgenders seeking Hong Kong ID validation goes against human rights

Court ruling effectively requires transgender people in Hong Kong to undergo complex surgery for the sake of administrative convenience

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Henry Tse at the High Court in Admiralty on February 1. Tse and two other plaintiffs challenged the Hong Kong government’s refusal to change the gender entry on their identity cards. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 6:01pm, 10 Feb 2019Updated: 9:57pm, 10 Feb 2019

The rationale of the recent High Court judgment in the Henry Tse, Q and R cases is perplexing. Disturbingly, the court brushed aside the Yogyakarta Principles as “aspirational statements”. The principles, cited by numerous national governments and court judgments, are considered international human rights norms relating to sexual orientation and gender identity.

The existing policy in Hong Kong concerning transgender people is outdated and inhumane. It requires a transgender person to undergo sex reassignment surgery in order to obtain a new ID card with the new gender marker. Effectively, this coerces the concerned individual to undergo a complex medical procedure of questionable value, for the sake of administrative expediency.

Our understanding of human sexuality evolves as new information comes to light. It wasn’t long ago that transgenderism was considered a psychiatric condition that required medical intervention. But in June 2018, the World Health Organisation announced that being transgender would no longer be classified as a mental illness.

Essentially, the world’s foremost authority on health was telling us that we should stop treating transgenderism as an illness. This came as no surprise, as it aligned with the contemporary understanding that sex and gender are two distinct concepts, and they go into the heart of the issue of gender recognition.

Sex is an innate biological feature, whereas gender is a social construct. For most people, sex and gender are in harmony with each other, but for those who face disharmony, the best practice is to respect the person’s bodily autonomy and allow him or her to live a life that conforms to the chosen gender without unnecessary medical interventions.

For those who face sex and gender disharmony, it’s best to respect their bodily autonomy and let them live a life that conforms to the chosen gender