Transgender activists urge Hong Kong’s Immigration Department to approve ID card sex change requests following landmark court ruling
- Henry Edward Tse, who won legal battle, and four other activists stage protest outside Immigration Department building
- ‘If the government had respected the ruling, they would have granted me the application right away,’ he says
Transgender activists have urged Hong Kong’s Immigration Department to approve applications to change the sex shown on identity cards after authorities suspended the process following a court ruling that reassignment surgery was no longer a prerequisite for the alteration.
Henry Edward Tse, a transgender man who won the legal battle, and four other activists staged a protest in front of the department’s building in Wan Chai on Friday.
“We urge the government to carry out the new policy that allows transgender people who have not completed full reassignment surgery to change their sex on ID cards within three months after the Court of Final Appeal ruling,” he said.
Tse, who had his breasts removed and underwent hormonal treatments, won the landmark case against the commissioner of registration, a role filled by the director of immigration, on February 6.
The department has since suspended all applications to change the sex shown on ID cards, saying it needed to adjust the policy to comply with the ruling.
A government spokesman said the department was still reviewing relevant policies and administrative measures based on the court judgment and would “strive to complete the review within a reasonable period”.
He added authorities would only continue processing ID card applications for individuals who had completed full sex reassignment surgery.