People who wish to legally change their registered gender will soon no longer be required to undergo surgery before applying, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday, marking a long-awaited victory for transgender rights advocates.
The ministry said it would soon terminate a controversial administrative order issued in 2008 that requires the surgical removal of gender-specific organs, as well as assessments from two psychiatrists, before a person is allowed to apply for gender reassignment.
Future applications for gender reassignment will be processed by a special committee that will include specialists on gender issues, psychiatrists and transgender representatives, long-time political activist Shih Ming-te (施明德) said yesterday at a news conference organized by transgender advocacy groups.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
According to the ministry’s current plans, applicants would be allowed to change their registered gender after they receive approval from the committee and wait through a required “hesitation period” of six months, Shih said, adding that applicants have to be over 18 years old.
Transgender rights advocates have long argued that a person’s gender should be based on self-identification rather than proof of surgery, and that the “inhumane” surgery requirement has forced many transgender people to undergo cheap, unsafe surgeries that have led to lasting injuries.
Led by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), a motion demanding that the ministry abolish the administrative order received bipartisan support at the legislature’s plenary session on Tuesday.
Ting said that forcing transgender people to surgically remove their reproductive organs is a violation of human rights.
In response, the interior ministry promised to abolish the order within one month, adding that it would formulate alternative criteria for gender reassignment applications with the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
An 18-year-old transgender activist known as Miss Wu (吳小姐), who was born male, but identifies as a transgender woman, said that transgender people encounter numerous difficulties as a result of their registered gender being different from the one they identify with.
“This is a very good Christmas present for me,” she said.
Other transgender activists have cited difficulties in applying for dormitory places or employment opportunities, as well as ridicule from others because of their choices in clothing and self-expression.
The reform signals a major step forward in better protecting the rights of transgender people, the Intersex, Transgender and Transsexual People Care Association said in a statement.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS