Hong Kong: A Hong Kong transsexual has
launched a landmark court challenge to win the right to marry
her boyfriend after city officials blocked the move, a report
said Sunday.
The Chinese woman in her 20s, who was born a man, was
denied the right to marry her male partner by Hong Kong`s
Registrar of Marriages last year because her birth certificate
still identified her as a man, the Sunday Morning Post said.
Changing gender on a birth certificate is not permitted
under Hong Kong law which technically meant the woman could
only marry another woman, the Post said, adding that same-sex
marriages are also banned in the city.
The woman`s lawyers will argue that the current
legislation breaches her civil rights under Hong Kong`s Basic
Law and Bill of Rights, the paper said, adding that the
unidentified woman`s city identity card and other documents
have been changed to reflect her new gender.
Arguments in the case are set to begin Monday, the paper
said.
Transsexual people are allowed to marry the opposite sex
in their new gender in various countries, including Argentina,
Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, Turkey, and Uruguay,
as well as most US states, the paper said.
PTI
