(LifeSiteNews) — A Hong Kong judge ruled to strike down a law banning gender-confused individuals from entering bathrooms of the opposite sex, siding with a transgender activist.
On Wednesday, Judge Russell Coleman ruled the provision that made it illegal to enter the bathroom of the opposite sex needs to be changed to allow for “transgender people” to enter bathrooms in accordance with the gender they identify with.
The court approved the judicial review of the plaintiff known as K, a woman who identifies as a man, stating that the ban goes against the city’s constitution, which demands that all residents must be equal before the law.
However, Judge Coleman suspended the demand to strike down the regulation for 12 months to allow the government “to consider whether it wishes to implement a way to deal with the contravention.”
He argued in his judgment that the ban and “drawing the line of a person’s biological sex at birth create a disproportionate and unnecessary intrusion into the privacy and equality rights.”
In Hong Kong’s current legal framework, only children under age 5 accompanied by an opposite sex adult may enter a public bathroom not designated for their own sex. Whoever violated that rule faced a fine of up to 2,000 Hong Kong dollars (about 255 USD).
K launched a legal challenge in 2022. She argued that the prohibition on using restrooms designated for men infringed on her constitutional rights.
The Environment and Ecology Bureau of Hong Kong said in a statement that the government will study the judgment carefully and consult the Department of Justice regarding appropriate follow-up action.
In another recent victory for transgender activists, Hong Kong’s top court ruled in 2023 that full “sex reassignment” procedures must not be a requirement to change one’s gender on their official documents. The following year, the government changed its policy to allow people who have not undergone all the so-called “gender affirming” surgeries to change their gender on ID cards if they met certain conditions. These conditions included having already undergone certain mutilating surgeries, like the removal of healthy breasts for women or penises and testicles for men, in addition to hormonal “treatment” for a minimum of two years.
Applicants for legal sex changes also have to submit blood test reports for random checks if the government demands them, as well as continuing to receive hormonal injections.
Henry Tse, the activist who won the legal victory in 2023 and received an ID card with the gender that he wished to display, brought a fresh legal challenge this year against these new requirements that were viewed as being too strict.
