On Mon 6 February 2023, two transgender men, Henry Tse and “Q”, won a legal victory in Hong Kong’s courts. The Court of Final Appeal ruled a policy which required transgender people to complete full Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS), in order to amend the gender marker on their ID cards, as unconstitutional.
Community Business supports this judgement and sees it as a step in the right direction for the rights of transgender people in Hong Kong.
“We welcome this landmark decision by The High Court Appeal and hope that this leads to more change to improve the lived experience of the transgender community in Hong Kong” said Janet Ledger, CEO of Community Business.
However, there is still much to be done to create a truly inclusive society. The transgender community deserves the equality and right to freely express their identities and to be treated with respect and this example of delayed justice showcases that in many instances, equality and inclusion still need to be fought for.
An inclusive workplace can have a positive influence on inclusion in wider society and Community Business is committed to Championing LGBT+ inclusive environments at the workplace and beyond, providing organisations around Asia with the means to advance inclusion for Trans employees in the workplace. With benchmarking tools like the LGBT+ Inclusion Index to assess how inclusive workplace policies are for LGBT+ employees in Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as research such as LGBT+ Mental Health in the Workplace and the upcoming 2023 publication Trans Inclusion in India, Community Business is best placed to equip organisations and employers in Asia to support Trans people in the workplace.
We look forward to more legal progress in the future and partnering with organisations to build more inclusive workplaces for LGBT+ and other marginalised communities.
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