LGBTQ+ rights advocates today launched a petition to abolish a rule requiring transgender people to show proof of genital surgery to change their legal gender, requesting the government to act immediately.
According to Ministry of the Interior regulations instated in 2008, transgender people need to submit two letters from a psychiatrist and a certificate showing they had genital gender-affirming surgery to change their legal gender.
The Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights (TAPCPR) has repeatedly called these regulations unconstitutional and has filed lawsuits on behalf of transgender people seeking to change their legal gender.
Photo: CNA
The alliance in a news conference today announced a public petition to abolish the mandatory surgery requirement, calling on all those who support transgender rights to speak out together.
Human rights experts have repeatedly said that surgery should not be a requirement to change legal gender, TAPCPR secretary-general Chien Chih-chieh (簡至潔) said, citing a 2014 ruling from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
There have already been seven court rulings in Taiwan stating that surgery is not required, showing that the ministry’s regulations may be unconstitutional and illegal, Chien said.
Despite these rulings, administrative authorities have only said they would wait for legislation without committing to a timeline, TAPCPR lawyer Victoria Hsu (許秀雯) said.
“Human rights cannot be delayed even for a moment,” Hsu said.
The ministry should first withdraw the regulations and then provide temporary measures for transgender people to change their legal gender, while also accelerating legislative action, she said.
National Taiwan University professor Chang Hsiao-hung (張小虹) said that requiring surgery to change one’s legal gender is a form of state violence based on reinforcing the gender binary.
The petition was initiated by leaders from law, sociology, medicine, social work and religious communities, and brings together activists from the human rights, gender, law, healthcare, education, labor and sex work fields, Chien said.
This cross-sector collaboration shows broad social consensus on abolishing the surgery requirement, Chien said, requesting that the government act immediately to meet public demand.
NEW AGREEMENT: Malaysia approved imports last year after nearly two years of negotiations and inspections to meet quarantine requirements, officials said Up to 3.6 tonnes of pomeloes from Taiwan cleared Malaysian customs on Friday, in the first shipment of Taiwanese pomeloes to Malaysia. Taiwan-grown pomeloes are popular in domestic and overseas markets for their tender and juicy taste, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said. The fruit is already exported to Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, it added. The agency began applying for access to the Malaysian market in 2023, compiling data on climate suitability, pests and diseases, and post-harvest handling, while also engaging in nearly two years of negotiations with Malaysian authorities and submitting supplementary
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
One of two tropical depressions that formed offshore this morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. It is expected to move in a northwesterly direction as it continues building momentum, possibly intensifying into Typhoon Mitag this weekend, she added. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is expected to approach southeast of Taiwan on Monday and pass through the Bashi Channel between Tuesday and Wednesday,
Tigerair Taiwan and China Airlines (CAL) today announced that several international flights were canceled or rescheduled due to Typhoon Ragasa. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has maintained sea and land warnings for the typhoon. Its storm circle reached the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) on Taiwan's southern tip at 11am today. Tigerair Taiwan said it canceled Monday's IT551/IT552 Taoyuan-Da Nang, IT606/IT607 Taoyuan-Busan and IT602 Taoyuan-Seoul Incheon flights. Tomorrow, cancelations include IT603 Seoul Incheon-Taoyuan, as well as flights between Taoyuan and Sapporo, Osaka, Tokyo Narita, Okinawa, Fukuoka, Saga, Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya, Asahikawa and Jeju. On Wednesday, the IT321/IT322 Kaohsiung-Macau round-trip would also be canceled. CAL announced that today's
RSS