Excluded lives: The largest-scale survey on the social and legal marginalization of transgender people in Hong Kong so far

Published: 13 May 2021

In the lead-up to the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (upcoming on 17th May 2021), the latest survey of 234 transgender people in Hong Kong between 2019 and 2020, the largest survey on the population in Hong Kong so far, has been released on 12th May 2021.

The survey conducted by the Sexualities Research Programme of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, in collaboration with the Transgender Resource Center, found that:

Rejection, victimisation and discrimination were the rule rather than the exception in many transgender people’s lives in Hong Kong. 76% of the respondents reported facing rejection in different dimensions of social life in their lifetime. 62% of the respondents reported having experienced different forms of victimisation in their lifetime. 51.1% of the respondents reported facing discrimination in at least one of the following four domains in the previous year: Employment (34.8%), education (34.8%), provision of goods and services (36.9%) and disposal and management of premises (26.2%).

Transgender people in Hong Kong reported great difficulties in using a toilet which matches their self-identified gender, or even simply accessing toilets in public spaces. Worse still, when using the toilet, transgender people in Hong Kong were subjected to verbal assault, physical violence, or even sexual contact against their wishes.

A substantial proportion of the respondents had not undergone, were not sure or did not want to undergo gender-affirming medical interventions because of a variety of reasons, which means they were excluded from being eligible for a change of the sex entry on the identity card sex entry based on the current regulations set out by the Hong Kong government. Only 5.6% of the respondents had changed the on their identity card, and another 6% said they were in the process of doing so. 75% agreed that the government should recognise non-binary gender options.

All of such social and legal marginalisation took a toll on the transgender people’s mental health in Hong Kong. 42.8% of the respondents showed moderate-to-severe levels of depressive symptoms, and 34.7% showed moderate-to-severe levels of anxiety symptoms. Besides, 31.2% of the respondents reported non-suicidal self-injurious behaviour in the past 12 months. There were 76.9% of them contemplated suicide, 25.6% made a suicide plan, and 12.8% attempted suicide in their lifetime. However, transgender people displayed agency and one-third of them took action to resist when facing transgender-related discrimination/cisgenderism.

> Download English Press Release

> Download English Research Report

 

Chinese News Coverage: 

1. 明報：中大調查：逾四成跨性別受訪者出入境遭負面對待　有抑鬱症狀
https://news.mingpao.com/ins/港聞/article/20210512/s00001/1620816055884/中大調查-逾四成跨性別受訪者出入境遭負面對待-有抑鬱症狀
http://www.mingpaocanada.com/Tor/htm/News/20210513/HK-ghb1_r.htm

2. 東方： 研究指近8成受訪跨性別人士有自殺念頭　倡設性別身份反歧視法
https://hk.on.cc/hk/bkn/cnt/news/20210512/bkn-20210512163144017-0512_00822_001.html

3. 商業電台：中大調查發現過半跨性別人士曾遭歧視
https://www.881903.com/news/local/2391242

4. 立場新聞： 研究指近 8 成跨性別人士有自殺念頭　促政府訂性別承認法、反歧視法
https://www.thestandnews.com/lgbtq/研究指近-8-成跨性別人士有自殺念頭-促政府訂性別承認法-反歧視法/

5. 眾新聞： 跨性別平權W案後無寸進　中大調查：51%受訪者面對歧視
https://www.hkcnews.com/article/41277/跨性別人士-跨性別廁所-羅寶璘-41277/跨性別人士

6. HK01: 調查發現近八成跨性別人士曾想過自殺　學者促跟進性別承認法
https://www.hk01.com/18區新聞/624319/調查發現近八成跨性別人士曾想過自殺-學者促跟進性別承認法

7. 頭條新聞：中大調查發現 逾半跨性別人士曾遭歧視
https://hd.stheadline.com/news/realtime/hk/2070921/即時-港聞-中大調查發現-逾半跨性別人士曾遭歧視

8. AM730: 八成跨性別港人想過自殺 專家倡精神健康支援 
https://www.am730.com.hk/news/新聞/八成跨性別港人想過自殺-專家倡精神健康支援-267751

9. 經濟一週：中大調查｜過半跨性別港人曾遭歧視 
https://www.edigest.hk/熱話/中大調查｜過半跨性別港人曾遭歧視-278777/

10. 香港商報：  中大調查：本港近八成跨性別受訪者表示曾遭歧視
https://hkcd.com/content/2021-05/12/content_1267770.html

 

English News coverage: 

11. RTHK News: Transgender people face broad discrimination: survey
https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1590556-20210512.htm

12. SCMP: Three-quarters of transgender people in Hong Kong have considered suicide, Chinese University survey reveals
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3133243/three-quarters-transgender-people-hong-kong-have

13. Hong Kong Free Press: Half of transgender people in Hong Kong face discrimination, CUHK research shows
https://hongkongfp.com/2021/05/13/half-of-transgender-people-in-hong-kong-face-discrimination-cuhk-research-shows/

14. The Standard: Half of transgenders face discrimination: survey
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/4/172066/Half-of-transgenders-face-discrimination:-survey?fbclid=IwAR1aedIoHiiGMXxUchVR1KB7k6GLZEZpdiIMjFW3huHzOXywp9PEdm0jn7w

 

Live radio programme current affairs: 

15. RTHK Hong Kong Today (13 May):
https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/news-programmes/this-episode.htm?cmsid=77

 

HIV自我檢測服務

Published: 04 July 2019

歡迎跨性別人士使用購買

新出版刊物「跨兒故事」

Published: 20 January 2019

「是非男女」第五冊：跨兒故事

項目簡介

跨兒故事項目主要是希望通過客觀的故事敘述，去呈現不一樣的生命故事，在多姿多彩的性別穹蒼下，看見故事中主角們怎樣去創造一個屬於自我的空間，與及面對生活中的困難。

整個項目包括構思、定位、項目策劃、招募顧問/訪談員/受訪對像/編輯/較對/排版美術等人、訪談員培訓、項目資助申請等等。當中進行了比較多的互動，不單止在培訓當中讓學員都提出了自己對項目的意見與想法，故事最終的定稿也讓受訪者參與其中，務求令故事中的細節與方向，都能夠忠於受訪者的意願，能夠呈現出一個有別於以往跨性別故事的新面向。

過往於香港出現過的跨性別故事主要有三類：

一) 跨性別社群主導或參與度比較高的出版 – 為數非常稀少，亦集中於男跨女的內容；
二) 媒體訪問 – 故事的呈現都取決於市場需求與媒體取向，很多時為迎合讀者口味，都會限制了涉獵的範圍；
三) 學生訪問與學術研究 – 因對像並非一般讀者，取材與討論範圍都有所局限。研究所用的故事並不容易給一般讀者消化，也比較少廣泛流傳。

• 下載繁體中文版
• 網上版本
• Google Play下載

其他出版刊物 <- 擊點這裡

TDOR 2018 Transgender Day of Remembrance

Published: 19 November 2018

The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR), also known as the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, is observed annually on November 20 as a day to memorialize those who have been murdered as a result of transphobia and to draw attention to the continued violence endured by the transgender community.

Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a transgender woman, to memorialize the murder of transgender woman Rita Hester in Allston, Massachusetts. Since its inception, TDoR has been held annually on November 20, and it has slowly evolved from the web-based project started by Smith into an international day of action. In 2010, TDoR was observed in over 185 cities throughout more than 20 countries.

以上資料來自：https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_Day_of_Remembrance

illustration by Julian Sun 2018  http://cenga.tumblr.com http://instagram.com/cengatse

illustration by Vincy Chan 2018