Beijing, 6 August – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and China Women’s University published a report to shed light on the current laws and policies in China regulating the recognition of gender identity and inclusion of transgender people. The report is part of UNDP’s efforts to ensure lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people have dignity, equality and inclusion in society.

Entitled the “Legal Gender Recognition in China: A Legal and Policy Review”, the report considers a wide range of legal and other materials, including specific provisions of laws and policies and their accompanying implementing regulations; arbitration rulings; judicial decisions; evidence on the state of current laws and policies; and the cumulative impact of these policies and practices on the Chinese transgender community.

“Reducing gender inequalities and empowering vulnerable groups, including for transgender people, is vital to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Devanand Ramiah, Resident Representative ad interim, UNDP China.

The report provides specific recommendations and suggested actions that will promote legal gender recognition and inclusion for transgender people and, if adopted, will facilitate an enabling environment for transgender people to access education, employment, health and other public services.

“Whether it is the employment equality for LGBTI people, or the ability to change the gender marker on education records, it requires great efforts and care from many people,” added Mr. C, a transgender man and the plaintiff of a recent successful employment discrimination case in Guizhou.  “I hope that this report will open a new door for more people to work on gender diversity issues and improvement implementation of the law.”

The report highlights transgender community efforts and initiatives that could serve as new platforms for asserting transgender inclusion and those which could open the doors for more enhanced collaboration among the various sectors. The report thus strives to comprehensively improve the lives and circumstances of transgender people and encourage the development of an equal, accepting, respectful, understanding and diverse society.

Professor Sun Xiaomei, who has served two terms on the National People’s Congress, spoke on behalf of China Women’s University, the academic partner of the review. “LGBTI people deserve more understanding and respect from society and more education and sensitizing programmes are needed to achieve that.”

The “Legal Gender Recognition in China: A Legal and Policy Review” study is part of a larger regional initiative, jointly implemented by UNDP and the Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN), which undertook a comprehensive review of existing laws, policies and practices related to legal gender recognition for transgender people in Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand. The regional study is available here.

Download Legal Gender Recognition in China: A Legal and Policy Review  

Contact Information: Ms. ZHANG Wei, Chief Communications Officer, UNDP China Tel: +8610 8532 0715, Email: wei.zhang@undp.org