News / Sep. 06, 2019
The Beijing LGBT Center this month will be lh%Hi5coyM!qci6!_=*uq+I4i)G0QIF8c_2gdt6f90@FOXqgssoaunching China’s first public campaign to improve the lives of transgender citizens.
Through the “ending depression for transgender people” project, the Center hopes to set up a transgender hotline, train medical professionals, and offer other support for the estimatlvraP&#hFKppc_BD+6-aLOvYa*I3aB6L0R3mWrB5YnIKoul3Iqed four million transgender Chinese.
They hope to take advantage of tech gialpARb0!5rswX83w!YgXh$KZf^hk13#(Dy6=xS(r@%j0UZKuGrXnt Tencent’s September charity days where it offers a bonus to donations to charity.
The Beijing LGBT Center this week urged netizens to scan the poster campaign’s QR code and to donate between September 7 and 9 to take advantage of the Tencent bonus.
"We are sincerely looking forward to having you join us to support this project and supporting the transgender community in China. Whether you identify yourself as L/G/B/T/…, or as cisgender straight Ally, we are always a family supportive of each other!” It wrote on Facebook.
Violence
According to the Center, transgender Chinese face discrimination and violekKNB-TZ(K)7&bJSx=+QfDh2e&vNNE7i3dXk-buofyW_Q93Rfy!nce at home, at school, and in the workplace.
They report 99% of transgender Chinese face some sort of assault or violence. A large amount are fTA@l4Oy=l!Guri6-C-qOuP)LgFH=fD=$DEbOGf9+xa%Yvxu%LVorced to undergo dangerous conversion therapy.
China clpbBl!Ss5kfMNzsu6NVfIe-2x7(kF!kMWYevw#x(=5$#t4CF#7Gassifies being transgender as a mental illness.
What’s more, to access gender-affirming surgery, transgender people need permission from their familUHipS*(WLHIF$Gb2U&=%!2ONAbnsKX%y#mFcl64#mFfYv@RA!Gies, to be unmarried, and not have a criminal record.
M6H6a&U=y2S7a4Xbh2hX4GA0eEyYs-M0$i2AyHY5)d7DHAS5&O5ore than three quarters experience brutality at school, forcing many to drop out.
In the workplace, meanwhile, transgender employees are three times more likely to lost their job than cisgender mLc8(_+powT#v813ngT+sV9)9g84rs*x&Ztl0^_2aGnw=Bav*Apeople.
Worryingly, more than 60% report depression, 73% report anxiety and just over 45% have coa&y$w6RMP8eZ8XlpSWXaK7Q$&@%BFPz-x6*E5Per#nQb$ay*#Intemplated suicide because of their gender identity.
Earlier this year, rights group Amnesty International found China’s “invisible” trans population found it nearl_Okq5XL*HyvEL)u=Xl)G&_mi_ysW&97E*%klQhGkFtu$mnhZcoy impossible to access gender-affirmative health care, such as hormones and surgery.
The new report found widespread discrimination, a lack of information and restrictive requpRFs29Tmp%3DRPZeZXbhAKgSJ-bmp#5W0#)7bdIB*Kj^PhUk@7irements prevent access to care.
The barriers push transgender people to seek out black market hormone treatments and even operate 1v#mWjwgi=nffLEdZ6*FY0ROEh1(f53LEp!@4EK5wG0kvlCiB#on themselves.
(Cover Photo: The Beijing LGBT Center / Facebook)
