‘I want to show the diversity within Hong Kong’s transgender community’: activist Henry Edward Tse in court battle for ID card gender change publishes book
- ‘I feel that the issues we’re facing are not given enough attention by the broader LGBT movement,’ Henry Edward Tse says
- Ruling on whether the government had wronged Tse by not allowing ID card gender change without full sex reassignment operation to be delivered soon
Transgender activist Henry Edward Tse is wasting no time in raising awareness about the discrimination his community faces as he waits for Hong Kong’s top court to hand down a far-reaching judgment on his case.
The Court of Final Appeal is expected to soon give its ruling on whether the government had wronged Tse by not allowing him to change his official gender on his identity card without a full sex reassignment operation, even though the 31-year-old had his breasts removed and underwent hormonal treatments.
Tse, who founded Transgender Equality Hong Kong, recently published Visibility vs Invisibility, a booklet to raise awareness about the diversity in the city’s transgender community.
“I feel that the issues that we’re facing are not given enough attention by the broader LGBT movement due to various reasons. That’s one of the reasons I started my organisation,” he said.
“I decided to start this project so that we can show the diversity within these rather invisible subgroups within the LGBT community.”
The activist met the Post ahead of Lunar New Year to talk about the project, joined by two others featured in the booklet. They recounted their struggles as they wrote out their aspirations for the coming year on fai chun, a festive decoration hung on walls and doors for good fortune.
According to the Hospital Authority, the number of people diagnosed with gender dysphoria seeking treatment at its Gender Identity Clinic (GIC) at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin has been on the rise.
