Nguyen Huy Quang, head of the Health Ministry's legal department

Nguyen Huy Quang, head of the Health Ministry's legal department, told a news conference on April 14 the ministry was completing is submission for the revised draft Code of Civil, which included issues relating to transgender people.

Quang said the ministry has not yet made its official submission, be he himself supports recognition.

Some 500,000 people in Vietnam have gender identity issues and wanted to undergo transition from female to male, or male to female, he said. But only 500-1,000 people in Vietnam have gone abroad for gender reassignment and returned home.

Gender transition involves lengthy psychological assessment and then hormone treatment, culminating in surgery. It is an expensive and lengthy procedure, and Quang's concern was abuse by unlicensed cosmetic surgery centres.

When returning to Vietnam after reassignment surgery, transgender people often face many difficulties. Documentation, such as identification cards and passports, state their gender at birth and cannot be altered to acknowledge their new gender.

“Transgender people face the risk of shortening their lifespan by 20 years due to the hormone treatments, but they accept this risk because they want to live as they believe they were meant to be. This should be considered by society for its determination,” Quang said.

He said if transgender people are recognised, procedures and regulations should be put in place to ensure effective gender transition for those sincere in their wish to change sex.

Quang said the Health Ministry proposed legal recognition of transgender people in 2005, but it has not yet been approved by the National Assembly.

He said, 20 of 200 countries and territories in the world recognise transgender people, including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Thailand in Asia.

In 2009, a teacher named Pham Le Quynh Tram in Binh Phuoc became the first Vietnamese person to be recognise after transitioning from male to female, but that was subsequently revoked in 2013 by local authorities.

Dtrinews