New | Transgenders 'should not have to undergo sex change before getting married in Hong Kong'

A draft law which would force transgender people to undergo full sex-change surgery before marrying in their chosen gender is too “simplistic” and “restrictive”, the Equal Opportunities Commission says. 

The Security Bureau introduced the proposed amendment to the Marriage Ordinance last Friday in response to last year’s landmark Court of Final Appeal ruling granting a woman born a man the right to marry. 

If passed, the amendment would write into law the government policy of recognising transgender people only after the removal of their genitals and construction of new ones.

But activists say not all transgender people want to or can undergo the surgery, which would leave them unable to have children, while lawyers question whether the law is in line with the instructions set by the top court.

“The EOC believes that the current practice of only recognising those persons who have fully completed sex reassignment surgery to acquire their reassigned gender is over simplistic and too restrictive,” a commission spokeswoman said.

“The government has to address the issue that many transgender persons may not be able to undergo or complete sex reassignment surgery due to health and/or psychological reasons.”