Progress at last (well some…!)

Leaving aside the constant stream of not-so-good news, which I’ve been writing about for the last few months, about the trials and tribulations of being T in Thailand, I’m changing countries this month…

On one of my recent regular visits to Hong Kong, I was pleased to see how some progress has been made with the advancement of T rights, and awareness of T issues, mainly through to the determined efforts of a lady I’ve known for some years, Joanne Leung, who’s doggedly pursued her dream of getting an embryonic Transgender Resources organisation up and running.

Then, in addition, as many readers will have read from an article in TGF on July 28th, the Chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission has determined that Hong Kong employers and the public alike, needs to begin accept “acquired gender” (a lovely turn of phrase!).

Not that’s is been easy to get this far as, even in the days pre-1997 before the city was returned to the PRC, despite its laissez faire attitude to business and freewheeling reputation, general society remains rooted in one of fairly typical, conservative Confucianism, where anything, or anyone for that matter, out of the ordinary is usually frowned upon.

Even during the many years I lived in Hong Kong, the T community lived in the proverbial shadows, hidden in the recesses of society; definitely there and definitely large in numbers, but certainly well hidden. Secret groupings in semi-secret locations and, for those braver than average souls, a night out would be a quick couple of hours furtively cruising around in the dark, late at night; at times when most of the other citizens would be thinking about heading to sleep.

In fact, probably no more than 10 years ago, the gay male and female communities were also deeply hidden but the advent of worldwide attention to the gay cause plus, perhaps, the increasing numbers of Chinese people returning to the Hong Kong after either studying or working in overseas countries, meant that a more liberal social attitude to matters of sexuality preferences began to become more prevalent.

Confusion about gender identity, though, is a different matter.

Sadly, as is often the case, the fragmented, more closeted T groups never really jumped on the back of this mini-reformation and, hence, were largely left behind when local authorities and employers began to understand that what one does sexually in one’s private life does not affect one’s ability to perform at work or elsewhere. As the gay rights movement took hold, the T sectors of society made some attempts to follow, with organisations such as the Rainbow Coalition promoting LGBT but, in reality, focussing their time and energies on the two first letters of the acronym!

Then, Joanne and a few of her close associates started to make waves; organising events, getting a myriad of people together (people from all “colours” of the rainbow) for meetings, discussions; seeking funding from local authorities, instigating an ‘’action plan” and so on.

Finally, some two years ago the Transgender Resource Centre, a non-profit organisation in Hong Kong that focuses solely in providing services to Transgender people, was born. One of the key aims being to raise gender awareness in public, to government, as well as in educational facilities such as universities and colleges; plus to provide supporting services within the community: see www.tgr.org.hk

The Centre now has some funding from government and from private donations and is able to hold monthly gatherings, participate in T related radio programmes; organise seminars; has established a training programme in China and undertake advocacy on health and legal issues; and provides a counselling service, support group and hotline.

Yet, despite all of TGR’s admirable efforts, it has needed a “heavyweight” such as the aforementioned Equal Opportunities Commission chairman to go public about the issues facing T’s, as Hong Kong still categorises gender identity disorder as a mental health condition. As a result, many T’s continue to face outright discrimination, difficulties in gaining (or loss of) employment and other humiliations in their daily lives.
The Community’s lack of visibility doesn’t help and, although the numbers of T people is generally considered to be small (I can vouch for sure that it’s not!) , extrapolating from other, international studies where around 0.5% of the male population tend to have T related issues, that amounts to, potentially, some 17,000 people in Hong Kong with gender related issues—and less than 100 have sought professional help at the now disbanded Gender Identity Clinic, formerly hosted at one of the government run hospitals.

Earlier this year, as has been widely reported, on an appeal, a Hong Kong court allowed a T woman the right to marry her male partner and also ruled that the government should begin to address the process of recognising a person’s acquired gender, moving such individuals out of the current legal limbo they now occupy.

So, progress yes, but the old adage of “two steps forward, one step backwards” comes to mind as a survey undertaken in Hong Kong last year found that over 75% of respondents did not really understand the meaning of “Transgender” and, of those who did, over 25% were not ready to accept T people in everyday life.

A truly sad indictment of our times….

Available from Club Lighthouse Publishing

Tags: featured, Hong Kong, Identity, Transgender, Transgender Resource Centre

Category: Transgender Community News, Transgender Opinion