End the delay on transgender IDs in Hong Kong
- When two transgender people won a landmark court victory ruling that reassignment surgery should no longer be a precondition for a gender change on identity cards, they were entitled to expect the judgment would be swiftly enforced. Seven weeks later, they are still waiting
The landmark court victory won by two transgender people last month took years to achieve. They were entitled to expect the judgment to be swiftly enforced. But seven weeks later, they are still waiting for their applications for a gender change on their identity cards to be processed. There should be no further delay. The Court of Final Appeal ruled it is unlawful for the government to require people to have had full “sex reassignment surgery” to secure such a change. A new, more liberal, approach is now required.
It is reasonable for the government to take a little time to process the court’s judgment and put a new policy in place. But applications should not be held up for long. Many parts of the world do not require full surgery for applicants seeking a formal gender change. The government, therefore, has an abundance of material to draw on when devising the policy.
Britain, for example, requires applicants to be 18 or above, diagnosed as suffering from gender dysphoria, to live in their acquired gender for at least two years and be willing to do so for the rest of their lives. Requirements in the US are more relaxed.
Officials are well aware of the issues. It should not be difficult to establish a new policy consistent with the court ruling. If the government fails to do this, applicants may have to head back to court for an order mandating the processing of their applications.
The case only involves an amendment to the gender shown on identity cards, not a change for legal purposes. But the issue has a serious impact on the daily lives of those concerned. Henry Edward Tse, one of the litigants, has spoken of having to provide a pile of materials when seeking bank services and avoiding gyms where he is required to use women’s changing rooms despite living his life and having the appearance of a man.
The court heard the two men suffered discrimination, humiliation, violation of their dignity and invasion of their privacy when they needed to show their identity cards. The breach of their rights is significant and must not continue.
A new policy should be quickly installed and all applications processed.