Seven years after he first sued the Hong Kong government and more than a year since the territory’s top court ruled in his favour, trans activist Henry Tse on Monday finally received an official ID card with his gender listed as male.
Earlier this month, the government issued updated guidelines, and on Monday, Mr. Tse — dressed in pink, blue and grey, the colours of the trans pride flag — collected his new ID card from immigration headquarters. “This judicial marathon has been incredibly difficult,” Mr. Tse said. “In the past seven years, apart from dealing with the government and the court’s multiple obstacles, I’ve also had to deal with opposition, disinformation and attacks from different parties.”
In order to change the gender listed on their HKID, a person must have gone through “surgical treatment for the purpose of modifying sexual characteristics” — top surgery for a trans man or genital surgery for a trans woman — and have been undergoing hormonal treatment and living as the target gender for at least two years.
“The reality is though we have a lot of structural problems,” he added. “That’s why people, including myself, have all increasingly turned to the courts to seek remedy.”