Male-to-Female Transsexual Sues Hong Kong Government
Wants Right To Marry Her Male Partner
Written by OddCulture on November 17th, 2009 in Odd Culture.
From the Asia Times Online comes a story about a male-to-female transsexual who is suing the local government for the right to marry her male partner.
The plaintiff’s legal arguments may hit an impenetrable wall of Confucian conservatism in a classic conflict between the law and the prevailing morality of those living under it. The complainant underwent government-subsidized sex-change surgery in a public hospital. Her lawyer describes his 20-something client as someone who for years tried government-funded gender therapy before opting for surgery. His argument: a government that funds both the therapy and surgery should then recognize and honor a transsexual’s new identity. When his client and her partner applied for a marriage license two months ago, Hong Kong’s Registrar of Marriage refused the application because Hong Kong law does not allow same-sex marriage or, the registrar contends, recognize changes in gender.
Attitudes towards sexual orientation in Hong Kong are slowly changing, as evidenced by the city’s first gay pride parade in 2008.
Also, transsexuals have been marrying in China for the past decade:
A transgender marriage in southwestern Sichuan province even received sympathetic treatment by state media (Zhang Lin), as did an attempt by transsexual Chen Lili to enter the province’s regional competition for Miss Universe. Chen was allowed to show off her comely figure in the bathing-suit competition but was barred from further rounds of the contest because she was not born a woman. Another Chinese transsexual, Han Bingbing, is using her blog to solicit offers of marriage from around the world. The source of this story is The People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party.
Zhang Lin with Husband
Chen Lili
Han Bing-Bing
