Hong Kong’s transgender community still faces an uphill battle against discrimination
As the Pink Season festival celebrating LGBTI acceptance ends, rights groups in the city are pushing for fairer treatment for the transgender community
Despite growing awareness of transgender issues in Hong Kong, rights groups say that transgender people still face an uphill battle against discrimination and unfair treatment.
Those who want to legally change their official gender must complete a series of psychiatric assessments lasting about two years before going under the knife for full sex reassignment surgery.
Gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder – the condition of experiencing distress because of a mismatch between one’s biological sex and gender identity – affects a growing number of Hongkongers. The number seeking psychiatric help in public hospitals doubled from 75 in 2011-12 to 158 between last year and this year.
At present about 160 patients are seeking treatment. With the end of Pink Season today – a festival celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) acceptance, inclusion and awareness – activists are pushing for fairer treatment for transgender individuals.
According to Dr Greg Mak Kai-lok, a psychiatrist who formerly worked for the government and has treated more than 100 gender dysphoria patients in the public sector, transgender individuals in the city are still subject to immense stigma. Hong Kong needs to have more formalised training for medical professionals working with such patients, he added.
