Hong Kong trans activist Henry Tse's legal battle may have concluded, but his struggle for dignity goes on

Tse’s organisation published a booklet titled “Transmen in Hong Kong: Visibility vs Invisibility” featuring real-life Hong Kong transmen stories as a stepping stone to gaining wider acceptance and bringing to light their invisible struggles

In 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and following near-constant frustration with being treated like a second-class citizen, Henry Tse founded Transgender Equality Hong Kong (TEHK).

The city’s mandatory requirement that people carry and use their HKID led to Tse experiencing regular condescension, suspicion and dismissal during interactions with healthcare providers, banks, potential employers and accommodation providers. Despite his identity as a transgender man, Tse’s HKID and other legal documents are required to list his gender as female.

Here, Tse explains how even after winning a court appeal against this restriction in February 2023, he is still fighting for changes in Hong Kong policy and—via publications like Transmen in Hong Kong: Visibility vs Invisibility—changes in Hong Kong perceptions.

I can’t really relax, even though it was a really good unanimous judgement from the court

- Henry Tse -

Now that I’m a bearded man and have a manly voice, no one would take me as female. So, whenever I presented my ID card, they just won’t believe that this man, this guy with a beard, was female on his HKID card. They just didn’t believe that I was the same person, even though all the other details were correct.

I was elated about the appeal outcome. But I also knew that it was a staged victory. Because the scope of the lawsuit is not very wide.

There is still a lot of uncertainty ... So, I can’t really relax, even though it was a really good unanimous judgement from the court. I was happy, but at the same time, I knew that I had to carry on working.

Right now, there is no [Hong Kong] anti-discrimination law, on the grounds of gender identity or sexuality. There are no targeted protective laws that cater to gender identity.

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I’ve heard cases of trans people being fired once they start their medical transition or being moved to [the back of an] office. The employer thinks it will affect their business if they remain in a client-facing role. And there are a lot of incidents like that.

[Some trans people] are coming out to families who are not very accepting. There’s a lot of expectation to do with Confucian beliefs and values used by older generations of Chinese parents. They expect their kids to form a family and carry on the bloodline. They have a lot of expectations in terms of playing gender roles in the family.

I really wanted to show these stories and reflect what lives are like for trans people. And at the same time, I want them to feel that they are welcomed, and they’re embraced by us.

See more honourees from the Public Service & Law category on the Gen.T List 2023.

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Tatler Asia

Trans activist Henry Tse’s legal battle may have concluded, but his struggle for dignity continues