Hong Kong appeal court rules against transgender pair who tried to amend status on their identity cards
- Henry Edward Tse and a person identified only as Q had applied for judicial review of government’s refusal to amend ID cards but failed at Court of First Instance in 2019
- Commissioner of registration will only amend gender entry on ID card if holder has had full sex reassignment surgery unless applicant has medical proof operation cannot be done
A court has upheld the constitutionality of a controversial policy that limits gender status changes on Hong Kong identity cards to those who have undergone sex reassignment surgery.
The Court of Appeal on Wednesday ruled against Henry Edward Tse and a person identified only as Q after they had applied for a judicial review of the government’s refusal to amend their identity cards but failed at the lower Court of First Instance in 2019.
The government welcomed the ruling, while the appellants have called it a disappointing setback, with Tse vowing to appeal to the city’s top court.
“I am confident that this offensive policy will be overturned in the end,” Q added.
Under the existing policy, the commissioner of registration will only amend the gender entry on the ID card if the holder has had full sex reassignment surgery, unless there is medical proof the person cannot undergo the operation.
However, the entry is simply an identifier of the card holder under a binary system of male or female, and does not confer any legal status or recognition of the person’s gender.
