Hong Kong transgender activist Henry Edward Tse says it’s time to ‘live like a normal person’, collects new ID card after ‘judicial marathon’
- Transgender man Henry Edward Tse says he feels relieved to finally receive his ID card with gender markers changed from female to male
- He won a landmark seven-year legal battle in 2023, but official policy only changed earlier this month
Henry Edward Tse said he felt relieved to collect his Hong Kong ID card from Immigration Tower in Wan Chai, describing it as a surreal moment at the end of a “judicial marathon”.
The new document will allow him to update his passport, mainland China travel permit and bank statements, which he hoped would also put an end to questioning by frontline staff over his gender.
“Because of all the problems, I have been avoiding doing a lot of things that involve gender or using my honorifics,” said Tse, 33.
“I used to run a lot … but while living as a man, without changing my ID card, I could not participate in women’s or men’s sports.
“Now, I hope I can live like a normal person and do what a normal person does. Maybe I can pick up some sports and sign up for the gym.”
Tse first launched legal action in 2017 after the commissioner of registration, a role filled by the director of immigration, rejected an application to change his gender from female to male on his ID card.
The Court of Final Appeal in February last year ruled in favour of Tse and another litigant, saying that authorities’ refusal to allow the pair to use their preferred gender on their identity cards without undergoing full reassignment surgery had breached their rights.
But the government only updated the policy, which allows Hongkongers to change their gender markers without undergoing full sex reassignment surgical procedures that are often considered risky by the transgender community, on April 3 this year.
Tse said the seven-year legal fight had been all-consuming and exhausting.
He recalled being refused at a local youth hostel because of his previous gender marker on his ID card, and also having to resubmit all his documents to a bank as staff were worried someone else was trying to take his money.
Tse said he also encountered problems signing up for gym membership and using changing rooms and toilets.
Hong Kong transgender man set for new ID card after 7-year legal fight
The activist hoped the latest policy change could resolve “day-to-day humiliation and problems”, but said the measure still raised human rights issues and he pledged to follow up to improve equality in society.
One example of where it fell short was the requirement for transgender people to submit to random blood tests to check their hormone profiles, he said.
All transgender residents applying for a gender change on their ID card under the policy must fulfil certain requirements, which include making a statutory declaration to confirm they will undergo continuous hormone treatment and submit blood test reports as requested.
Tse, the chairman of the NGO Transgender Equality Hong Kong, also filed a separate lawsuit against the government in March for what he said was a discriminatory delay in issuing him his new ID card.
“My ultimate goal is to urge the government to bear its legal responsibility and comply with court orders in reasonable time frames,” he said.
