Letters | Hong Kong’s court ruling on transgender rights an important victory, but full legislation still needed

Readers discuss the need for a law in Hong Kong recognising a person’s affirmed gender, and the importance of incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion into the curriculum for business leaders

Hong Kong courts

Letters

Published: 11:30am, 11 Feb 2023

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The Court of Final Appeal this week handed down its ruling on the rights of transgender people in the case of Q and Henry Edward Tse v Commissioner of Registration. The court held that it was a breach of the right to privacy for the government to require transgender people to undergo full sex reassignment surgery before their new gender is recognised on their identity cards.

This ruling is a vital step towards the legal protection of transgender people. It sends a clear message to the government that it should put an end to the encroachment on transgender people’s rights.

The decision is not the first regarding transgender rights in Hong Kong. In 2013, the Court of Final Appeal in W v Registrar of Marriages decided that denying a post-operative transsexual person the right to marry in their affirmed gender was unconstitutional.

In that case, the court called for a comprehensive review of the relevant legislation concerning the problems facing transsexual people.

However, almost a decade later, we are still awaiting reform. Although there has been a public consultation on the issues surrounding legal gender recognition, there has been no follow-up.

Interestingly, the court in this week’s judgment noted that the successful appeal does not signify recognition of the identity card holder’s gender as a matter of law. Therefore, Hong Kong still lacks legislation specifically to deal with the rights of transgender people. It lags far behind some other jurisdictions in recognising transgender rights.

In the United Kingdom, for example, the Gender Recognition Act 2004 enables transgender people to have their acquired gender legally recognised without having to undergo surgery if certain requirements are satisfied. The UK has also enacted laws explicitly to include gender identity as a prohibited ground for discrimination.

Moreover, some people in Hong Kong still hold discriminatory attitudes towards transgender people. The government should do more to eradicate these discriminatory societal values or stereotypes and protect the dignity of transgender people.

The unanimous decision of the court is a positive outcome for all transgender people, but Hong Kong still has a lot of catching up to do.

Dragon Lo Koon-kit, Sha Tin

Educate future business leaders on diversity

I refer to your special report, “Hong Kong’s DBA and EMBA business courses embrace ‘new normal’ to form the flexible leaders of the future” (January 22). I would advise the academic experts who design business courses to also include diversity, equity and inclusiveness (DEI) in their curriculums.

What differentiates great from good leaders is their humanity and determination to truly embrace every single employee regardless of any individual differences. No matter how many studies show that companies that support diversity perform better, most employers are at best paying lip service or, at worst, totally indifferent to the issue.

Some US companies have even paid millions of dollars to settle lawsuits related to discrimination in the workplace. Yet many business leaders still ignore the need for diversity, equity and inclusion.

The pandemic has been a wake-up call, showing us that life is fragile and so is business. We need to work together and respect every person to achieve common goals. We must make sure every single employee has equal opportunity to fulfil their potential and express their talent.

No one would argue against these ideals, but the question is how to put them into practice. The answer lies in the core education for business leaders since they are crucial in implementing DEI systems in their companies. DBA and MBA students undoubtedly need to understand “big data, fintech, data security and China’s Belt and Road Initiative” as mentioned in the report; however, they also need to have empathy and a truly inclusive mindset.

It is a shame that people have talked about DEI issues for decades, but we have seen so little progress. Hong Kong’s higher education has a unique role to play in the Greater Bay Area and is highly reputed both regionally and globally.

It is time prominent business schools in Hong Kong make their students fully aware of this important issue not just for the benefit of minorities, but for the good of humankind.

Fion Yip, Guangzhou