"Pooh, a 27-year-old professional, had been saving up $6,000 for a one-week trip to Bangkok, Thailand in September 2023. For Pooh, who only used his first name for this story due to safety concerns, this trip was not simply a vacation. Born in the mountainous, multiethnic Sơn La province in Vietnam and assigned female at birth, Pooh was embarking on a life-changing journey: gender affirmation surgery. He hoped, as a result, to permanently change his current Vietnamese ID card, which lists his gender as female."
"In many countries across Southeast Asia, bodily medical interventions, which typically include gender reassignment surgeries, are required by various national legal systems for individuals to officially change their gender-if gender change is legalized at all. Legal procedures associated with the change are often costly, complex, confusing, and cumbersome. Despite the associated health risks, pervasive discrimination, and substantial expenses, some individuals choose to undergo one or more surgeries of their own volition."
"As a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the Vietnamese government supported a 2016 UN resolution on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2019, Bình Dân Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City opened a new clinic to serve the LGBTQ+ community, marking Vietnam's first public medical facility to provide such services."
Pooh, a 27-year-old professional from Sơn La province, saved $6,000 for a September 2023 trip to Bangkok to undergo gender-affirmation surgery and seek a permanent change to his Vietnamese ID. Many Southeast Asian legal systems require medical interventions, often including surgery, for legal gender change. Vietnam legalized gender change upon medical intervention in 2015, supported a 2016 UN resolution on sexual orientation and gender identity protections, and saw a 2019 public clinic open in Ho Chi Minh City. A 2023 draft law proposed legal recognition without surgery; Pooh hoped for its approval. Legal procedures remain costly, complex, and discriminatory pressures persist.
Read at Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.
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