Reporting on Trans Rights in China
FEBRUARY 6, 2025
The Reporter’s Notebook is our monthly interview series with Dial contributors. To receive these conversations directly in your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
✺
A conversation with Lavender Au, who wrote about China’s strict policy requiring parental consent for trans people seeking gender-affirming surgery, no matter their age, for our Bodies issue.
In China, transgender people — no matter their age — require parental consent to transition medically and legally. The need to obtain parental consent exists to avoid parents causing a stir at the hospital and forces families to resolve their differences about the procedure ahead of time. But it also often makes it harder for trans people to obtain care. Some choose to travel to Thailand to pursue gender-affirming surgery, or resort to a gray industry of hormone treatments. Dial intern Devin Caliboso spoke to Lavender Au about her piece.
THE DIAL: What inspired you to write about this particular issue within China, and why do you think it's important to explore?
LAVENDER AU: I was having a conversation with one of the people I mentioned in the piece about a different story I was pursuing. When they mentioned that they worked for an organization that gave advice to trans people who wanted to go to Thailand to get gender-affirming surgery, I became really interested in why people were choosing to leave the country. That’s how I found out about this requirement that trans people must get parental consent before pursuing surgery, no matter how old they are.
I wanted to explore what this requirement means for trans people and all the intended and unintended consequences it can have. The question of how you deal with family dynamics and medical transitioning is one that’s facing trans communities in other countries as well. I thought it was worth telling that story.
THE DIAL: You describe in your piece how family is very highly regarded in Chinese culture. Could you expand a little on how that affects trans people, and specifically how trans people reconcile their own needs with the expectations of their families?
LA: This was really interesting to me because I’m British-Chinese, and I’ve found that the importance of the family in Chinese society is something that's not talked about enough in English-language reporting on China.
It came up in a lot of the interviews for this piece, and at some times it was hard for me to understand the kinds of power parents held. If your parents offer to pay for a better doctor for you, for example, why would you not want to ask them to sign the consent forms for your surgery? It comes down to the nuances of how family dynamics play out in China. One person knew her parents wanted her to have a good doctor because they wanted her to be safe. But she told me she didn’t want to aggravate them more, because she knew it was already a huge deal for them to accept that she was trans and wanted to get surgery.
The people I interviewed told me they didn’t want their parents to be embarrassed or affected by their personal decisions. Different generations and individuals have varying responses to this — there is also a trend in China of cutting off relations with your family. But the people I interviewed were trying to navigate their transition without leaving their family behind or putting their parents in difficulty.
THE DIAL: The piece also discusses how LGBTQ+ expression and activism in China is seen by the authorities as proof of foreign influence. Why is that?
LA: Well, terms like LGBTQ+ and symbols like the pride flag didn't originate in China. There is a backlash against their adoption from people who are trying to promote more traditional gender values. Often, in conservative online speech, the LGBTQ+ movement is portrayed as a kind of virus, especially affecting young people.
But I was impressed by the size and strength of the communities that support LGTBQ+ people in China. There are a lot of online groups where bloggers can be very open about various issues like the surgery process. It’s harder to gather in person, as there is more scrutiny of group gatherings from the authorities.
THE DIAL: You wrote that there's been some progress in policies related to trans rights, for example when it comes to changing ID cards, but that the government is also cracking down on NGOs that work with trans people. How optimistic are you about the state of trans rights in China? Is public perception of trans people changing for the better?
LA: I would sum up the government’s attitude as: You can be trans, but you can't be an activist or be overtly political. This actually applies to many groups in China, not just trans people.
I see a lot of acceptance of queer people among the younger generations, but there is obviously still backlash and older people are less understanding. The feeling is: I can accept the existence of trans people, but I don’t want it to be my son or daughter.
On a state level, I can’t see the government removing the requirement for parental consent for trans people seeking surgery — it’s just not a policy priority. That means a trans person’s experience in China will continue to largely depend on their socio-economic status. Getting gender-affirming surgery in China or Thailand is expensive, and out of reach for many people who have to save up to be able to afford it.
Also, even after surgery, having your gender changed on your education certificates is far from easy. Finding a job then becomes difficult, because many employers require an education certificate that would reveal the person’s biological gender, in effect outing them. That limits their employment opportunities, and many trans people end up doing poorly paid work. Social organizations helping trans people tend to focus more on these very practical issues, like helping people find work.
LAVENDER AU is a writer from London currently based in Beijing.
DEVIN CALIBOSO is an aspiring Filipino-American writer. He grew up in Southern California, but is now an English-major undergraduate at UC Berkeley. Go Bears!