Transgender rights groups call for end to gender change surgery rule

Taipei, Aug. 13 (CNA) Transgender rights groups on Wednesday launched a petition calling for the removal of the government's mandatory surgery requirement for individuals to legally change their gender.

"To this day in Taiwan, changing one's legal gender still requires two psychiatric diagnoses and proof of having undergone surgery to remove the sexual organs," Chien Chih-chieh (簡至潔), secretary-general of Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights (TAPCPR), said at a news conference in Taipei.

Under a 2008 Ministry of the Interior (MOI) interpretation, transgender men in Taiwan must remove their breasts, uterus and ovaries, while transgender women must remove their penis and testicles, to change their legal gender.

Such a requirement should not be imposed, Chien said, citing several international human rights conventions that support such a view, as well as opinions from human rights experts that "surgery should not be a prerequisite for gender change."

Chien also noted that as of late June, at least seven court rulings in Taiwan have allowed individuals to change their legal gender without undergoing mandatory surgery.

As authorities chose not to appeal any of those rulings, it indicates the administrative system may be aware that the MOI's 2008 interpretation "could be unconstitutional and unlawful," Chien said.

With authorities slow to make revisions, Chien said TAPCPR and other groups and activists launched the petition, which is available online, calling on the MOI to immediately revoke the mandatory surgery requirement in its 2008 interpretation.

Another demand is for the ministry to introduce interim measures to allow transgender people to change their legal gender before relevant legislation is completed.

Asked by CNA what such interim measures would be, Chien said one option would be for the MOI to first withdraw the 2008 interpretation and later issue a new one with the surgery requirement removed.

Those groups also urged the Executive Yuan to expedite legislation on gender recognition so transgender people can be "legally recognized without having to pay a physical price."

That physical price is familiar to Abbygail Wu (吳伊婷), a transgender woman who now serves as chairperson of the Intersex, Transgender and Transsexual People Care Association.

"Not everyone can afford gender-affirming surgery, and not everyone's body is able to undergo it," said Wu, who spent around NT$300,000 (US$ 10,018) on the procedure more than a decade ago, followed by a six-month recovery.

"All of this is simply the result of government inaction, which has left us to bear these consequences," she said.

Regarding the number of transgender individuals in Taiwan, Chien told CNA there are currently no such statistics, but overseas data suggest they account for 1-2 percent of the population.

If counting those in Taiwan "who believe their assigned sex at birth does not match their gender identity," they may make up around 1 percent of the population, or about 230,000 out of Taiwan's 23 million people, Chien said.

She added that the petition is expected to run for a month, after which the signatures will be submitted to the MOI or the Executive Yuan to press the government to take action.