The authorized problem was introduced in 2019 by Henry Edward Tse and one other appellant who solely wished to be recognized as “Q” in opposition to the Commissioner of Registration after an official refused to evaluate their gender standing on their Hong Kong identification playing cards. The 2 transgender males have efficiently amended their gender markers on their British passports.

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In 2019 and 2022, two decrease courts in Hong Kong has rejected Q and Tse’s attraction, siding with the federal government {that a} transgender particular person is required to bear a full intercourse reassignment surgical procedure to amend their gender marker.

The process would come with the elimination of their uteruses and ovaries and the development of a male genitalia, which Tse mentioned might be a dangerous surgical procedure that might result in issues in sufferers and due to this fact requested to scrap such a prerequisite.

In a judgment launched Monday afternoon, the courts reasoned that the form of “incongruence” which mostly brought about issues for transgender folks arose out of discordance “between the gender marker and a transgender particular person’s outward look” and never the looks of the “genital space.”

“The coverage’s consequence is to put individuals just like the appellants within the dilemma of getting to decide on whether or not to endure common violations of their privateness rights or to bear extremely invasive and medically pointless surgical procedure, infringing their proper to bodily integrity. Clearly this doesn’t mirror a motive steadiness,” the judgment wrote.

Assembly the press outdoors the courtroom, Tse mentioned as we speak’s ruling is “delayed justice.”

“All of us dreamt that we are going to not be outed by our ID playing cards anymore, that we are going to not be rejected to cross borders and are available again to Hong Kong our house, and be stripped our rights to marry and set up a household with the other intercourse. In each points of on a regular basis life, our dignity has been broken,” Tse mentioned.

“This case ought to by no means have occurred within the first place.”