.A 24-year-old trans woman who died by suicide has revealed the hardships trans people face in Hong Kong.
Surnamed Hu the woman died on Saturday afternoon at the Tai Wai Metro Station.
According to reports in HK01 Hu had been the victim of a mugging in 2015. The subsequent media attention misgendered her and did not take her gender dysphoria seriously.
Since then Hu had posted multiple times on Facebook that she had gender dysphoria and felt more ‘like a girl’.
In the days leading up to her death Hu posted that she wanted ‘leave this world’. She believed she did not ‘fit into society’.
Her friends flooded her Facebook with condolences posts telling her she will be missed, she was unique and that she was a ‘beautiful girl’.
Legislate and protect
LGBTI advocates in Hong Kong said the rise of trans people taking their own lives has increased in recent year.
The TRC commissioned Chinese University to survey trans people in 2016 according to the Hong Kong Free Press. The survey found 63.2% of trans people had contemplated suicide. A staggering 70.4% of people younger than 30 had contemplated suicide.
Advocates have also been critical of the media coverage of Hu’s death and the lack of government legislation on gender identity.
Hong Kong Sex Education, Research and Treatment Association president Qiu Guisheng, said the report in HK01 was disrespectful. Qiu said it misgendered Hu and treated being trans as a disease.
‘Hong Kong 01′ does not understand and disrespects transgender people,’ Qiu told InMediaHK.
She said that trans people have to face a lot of difficulties in their lifetimes and wanted to HK01 to apologize for its reporting.
If you or someone you know needs mental health support please visit this link that has a list of global resources.
