HK judges to rule in marriage ban case
By Gillian Wong |
August 10, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A DECISION to bar a transgender woman from marrying her male partner is being reviewed by a court in Hong Kong, the woman's lawyer said yesterday.
The resident in her 20s who can be only identified as "W" under a court order, was born male but had sex-change surgery over the past five years. She was prevented from marrying her boyfriend by Hong Kong's marriage registry, her lawyer, Michael Vidler, said.
"She is a woman and she should be entitled to the same rights as a woman," he said.
Vidler said authorities had acknowledged W's gender in other respects: Her hormone therapy and sex change surgery were paid for by the government, and she has a new identity card and school certificates stating she is female.
But when she tried to marry a man last year, her application was refused because her birth certificate, which cannot be changed, still states she is male.
The special administrative region bans same-sex marriage.
The Hong Kong High Court's review of the marriage registry's decision is scheduled to last two days.
Transgender marriage is permitted in many European countries and parts of the United States. In Asia, countries that allow it include Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, said Professor Sam Winter of the University of Hong Kong.
"In this case, the government clearly takes the view that W is a man, and it is afraid of opening the door to same-sex marriage," he said.
The government's position effectively means that W, though anatomically a woman, can only be allowed to marry another woman. "That is a fairly delicious irony," Winter said.
The resident in her 20s who can be only identified as "W" under a court order, was born male but had sex-change surgery over the past five years. She was prevented from marrying her boyfriend by Hong Kong's marriage registry, her lawyer, Michael Vidler, said.
"She is a woman and she should be entitled to the same rights as a woman," he said.
Vidler said authorities had acknowledged W's gender in other respects: Her hormone therapy and sex change surgery were paid for by the government, and she has a new identity card and school certificates stating she is female.
But when she tried to marry a man last year, her application was refused because her birth certificate, which cannot be changed, still states she is male.
The special administrative region bans same-sex marriage.
The Hong Kong High Court's review of the marriage registry's decision is scheduled to last two days.
Transgender marriage is permitted in many European countries and parts of the United States. In Asia, countries that allow it include Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, said Professor Sam Winter of the University of Hong Kong.
"In this case, the government clearly takes the view that W is a man, and it is afraid of opening the door to same-sex marriage," he said.
The government's position effectively means that W, though anatomically a woman, can only be allowed to marry another woman. "That is a fairly delicious irony," Winter said.
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