The possibility of loosening regulations defining transsexual people is being considered after the Presidential Office’s Human Rights Consultation Committee said a panel of experts would be invited to discuss the feasibility of such a move, the Department of Health said.
During a recent meeting with the committee, a human rights organization proposed that Taiwan follow the US and European countries in loosening regulations so that a person may be legally defined as the gender they identify as.
Bureau of Medical Affairs Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said that previously, those who wished to become transsexual in the eyes of the law had to complete a psychiatric assessment and diagnosis by doctors and a sex-change operation.
In 2008, the regulations were loosened so that as long as a person underwent the surgical removal of their ovaries or penis and testicles, they would be assigned a new gender and begin life as a transsexual, he said. The new proposal would eliminate the need for any such surgery.
The department said it would discuss the proposal.
Some doctors specializing in sex reassignment surgeries have expressed reservations about the proposed measure, saying it could lead to difficulties defining transsexuals.
Plastic surgeon Wang Mao-shan (王茂山) said a female wishing to become a male would have to be injected with androgens after undergoing a sex-change operation. Physically, he would be no different from any other male and there would be no doubts when judging what sex he is. However, should regulations be loosened so that all a transsexual needs is a psychiatric diagnosis, there would be no such clarity over their sex.
Wang said going from being male to female is a much easier surgical process, requiring only one operation and rest for a week.
For a female to change her sex to male, the ovaries, uterus and vagina have to be removed, then they have to undergo phalloplasty and relocation of the urethra to the phallus, Wang said, adding that the entire procedure might take up to a year or more.
Wang said procedures for male-to-female surgeries cost about NT$400,000, and female-to-male surgeries cost about NT$700,000.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique