Transgender individuals in Hong Kong can now apply to change their ID cards without undergoing full sex reassignment surgery
Hongkongers can apply to change the gender markers on their identity cards from Wednesday without undergoing full sex reassignment surgical procedures, as part of revised criteria introduced in response to a landmark court ruling last year.
The Court of Final Appeal in February of last year ruled in favour of two transgender residents who sought to change their cards without undergoing the invasive procedure.
The city government said on Wednesday that the change was made after “prudently considering the objective of the policy, relevant legal and medical advice, as well as drawing reference from the relevant practices overseas”.
The revised criteria no longer consider the procedure necessary when a resident applies to the commissioner of registration to update their Hong Kong identity cards.
Under the new policy, applicants must have completed select surgical procedures to modify their sexual characteristics, along with presenting the relevant medical proof and supporting documents.
Applicants must make a statutory declaration to confirm they have gender dysphoria, which refers to psychological distress that a person may experience because of a mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity.
They are also required to show proof they have undergone hormonal treatment throughout the two years before applying.
Applications must include a declaration that the candidate will continue to undergo continuous hormonal treatments, as well as submit blood test reports for randomised checks.
The Immigration Department said it would take the initiative to follow up with all applications it received.
The journey toward the landmark victory started back in 2017, when activist Henry Edward Tse made a case against the department over its rejection of his application to change his card’s gender marker.
Tse and Q, a separate appellant, said they had undergone medical and surgical treatments later medically certified to be sufficient to ensure their social integration and psychological well-being, arguing additional invasive procedures were unnecessary.
Their applications to change their identity cards were previously rejected on the grounds they had not undergone full sex reassignment surgical treatments as required under the old policy.
Transgender activists call for approval of Hong Kong ID card sex change requests
Transgender activists call for approval of Hong Kong ID card sex change requests
They also separately argued their cards’ female gender marks had resulted in both facing discrimination and humiliation when confirming their identities with third parties.
The Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal dismissed both cases, before the city’s top court heard the appeals together and unanimously ruled the old policy had breached their right to privacy under Article 14 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights, declaring the requirement unconstitutional.
(The following story may or may not have been edited by NEUSCORP.COM and was generated automatically from a Syndicated Feed. NEUSCORP.COM also bears no responsibility or liability for the content.)