People who wish to legally change their registered gender will soon no longer be required to undergo surgery before applying, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday, marking a long-awaited victory for transgender rights advocates.
The ministry said it would soon terminate a controversial administrative order issued in 2008 that requires the surgical removal of gender-specific organs, as well as assessments from two psychiatrists, before a person is allowed to apply for gender reassignment.
Future applications for gender reassignment will be processed by a special committee that will include specialists on gender issues, psychiatrists and transgender representatives, long-time political activist Shih Ming-te (施明德) said yesterday at a news conference organized by transgender advocacy groups.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
According to the ministry’s current plans, applicants would be allowed to change their registered gender after they receive approval from the committee and wait through a required “hesitation period” of six months, Shih said, adding that applicants have to be over 18 years old.
Transgender rights advocates have long argued that a person’s gender should be based on self-identification rather than proof of surgery, and that the “inhumane” surgery requirement has forced many transgender people to undergo cheap, unsafe surgeries that have led to lasting injuries.
Led by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), a motion demanding that the ministry abolish the administrative order received bipartisan support at the legislature’s plenary session on Tuesday.
Ting said that forcing transgender people to surgically remove their reproductive organs is a violation of human rights.
In response, the interior ministry promised to abolish the order within one month, adding that it would formulate alternative criteria for gender reassignment applications with the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
An 18-year-old transgender activist known as Miss Wu (吳小姐), who was born male, but identifies as a transgender woman, said that transgender people encounter numerous difficulties as a result of their registered gender being different from the one they identify with.
“This is a very good Christmas present for me,” she said.
Other transgender activists have cited difficulties in applying for dormitory places or employment opportunities, as well as ridicule from others because of their choices in clothing and self-expression.
The reform signals a major step forward in better protecting the rights of transgender people, the Intersex, Transgender and Transsexual People Care Association said in a statement.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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