A movement to waive a transgender surgery requirement in Taiwan has some women worried for their safety in public spaces. Gender studies scholars and trans rights lawyers say such deep-rooted fears can be overcome with open dialogue and infrastructural reforms.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Five years have passed since the first time a transgender person in Taiwan got to change
00:08their national ID gender marker without first getting surgery.
00:12Since then, there have been four winning cases and one losing.
00:17Some transgender people are still fighting in court and in their personal lives to be
00:21accepted as who they truly are while protecting the body they were born in.
00:26All these struggles over one bit of information on a legal document.
00:36Once you turn 14 in Taiwan, you'll need to come to a registration office like this one
00:40to apply for your national identification card, which only lists your biological sex,
00:44not your preferred identity.
00:46To change that marker, you'll need to go through a checklist of things to start the paperwork.
00:50That's based on an administrative rule enforced by the Interior Ministry since 2008.
00:56It requires you to be at least 20 years old, have gone through gender reaffirming surgery
01:00to remove reproductive organs, and have two psychological assessments to validate your
01:05need for surgery.
01:06But these rules are not legally binding.
01:09That means each person who wants to change their ID can challenge the criteria in court.
01:15Nail Pond has been on the front line of these legal battles, representing plaintiffs who
01:19want to change their ID without medical intervention.
01:22But since each case is judged individually, it's a never-ending battle until the Ministry
01:27revises the rule.
01:29So many judges have already said that the surgical requirement is wrong.
01:33We shouldn't continue to adopt this surgical requirement.
01:37But we haven't seen the Ministry of Interior make it clear to the court that at least the
01:42surgical requirement should be removed.
01:46They haven't gotten any response.
01:48Outside of the courtroom, the momentum to do away with the surgery rules has sparked
01:52protests from some women.
01:54They say it could compromise their safety and privacy in public spaces like restrooms.
01:59But gender studies scholar Chen Yiqian says such fears have a deeper root.
02:25As Taiwan's society becomes more openly diverse and inclusive, protecting everyone's
02:32safety and rights may begin with modifying infrastructure.
02:36For example, there are so many so-called gender-friendly restrooms.
02:41But when you go in, there are no barriers.
02:43It's just for men and women to use.
02:46This is not a gender-friendly space.
02:50With improvements in public space designs and more education, Chen says society would
02:55then be ready to embrace gender diversity in the legal and social spheres, and potentially
03:00accept a third gender on IDs.
03:03So this so-called third gender, legal gender design, is actually designed for people who
03:10don't want to be trapped in this road of two sexes.
03:18We have prepared this design, but it's currently a draft.
03:22You decide for yourself what the standard will be.
03:24If you want to do surgery, you do surgery.
03:26If you already have hormone supplementation, and you think that's enough, then you
03:31change gender according to your gender identity.
03:36Taiwan's transgender community is waiting for a green light from official decision-makers,
03:41which may take years.
03:43But lawyers like Pan are confident in the direction they're heading.
03:47If a transgender person's gender identity is registered in the court,
03:55then it's possible that it will be a case in the court.
04:02Whether transgender people can be themselves without the physical and financial burdens
04:06of surgery and social scrutiny requires open conversations among everyone in society.
04:13John Su and Irene Lin for Taiwan Plus.