‘Traumatising’: Trans woman says she was denied entry to Hong Kong and held in male detention area
A trans woman has said she was left “traumatised” after being denied entry to Hong Kong. (Getty Images)
A transgender woman has spoken out after claiming that she was denied entry to Hong Kong, recalling the incident as “traumatising.”
The 29-year-old woman, named only as Margaux, flew to Hong Kong in mid-November with her cousin, who is also trans. They had planned to visit for six days.
Together they had spent about HK$13,200 (£1,300/US$1,700) on hotel reservations and pre-booked tickets to tourist attractions, including Disneyland, the Ngong Ping 360 cable car and the Peak Tram, the South China Morning Post reported.
They had already visited Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam without any issues so were shocked to be denied entry to the special administrative region of China.
The pair claim they were held in an area designated for men
The pair were reportedly “grilled by immigration officers over the purpose of their visit”, while being held in an area designated for men for about 12 hours. “It was traumatising,” Margaux said.
They were flown to the Philippines the following morning.
Life has been improving for LGBTQ+ people in Hong Kong. Most recently trans people were given the right to change the gender on their ID cards without having to undergo full gender-affirmation surgery.
Last year, Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal ruled in favour of Henry Tse and another trans activist, identified only as Q, who launched a lawsuit against regulations that prevented transgender men and women changing the gender marker on mandatory ID cards unless they underwent certain surgeries.
Under the new requirements, transgender men must still undergo top surgery while trans women need to have bottom surgery. Tse expressed concern about the surgical requirements, saying: “The new policy does not mean that all the discrimination and harm caused by the long delay will be wiped out”.
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