Hey all, I got a question recently about trans rights in China. I wanna make sure I answer the question correctly so I came here. I would just look it up myself but it’s impossible given how filled to the brim the internet is with Sinophobic lies.

    • loathsome dongeater@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
      10·
      4 months ago

      I’m gonna copy-paste it so that it lives forever (yes i am a juche necromancer)

      It’s similar to the USA but they don’t have a hate mob going after trans people cause they hunt fascists down for sport. There are many very positive interactions with trans people on national TV and they don’t stir shit about “the controversy” like in the West. Discriminatory remarks against any group, including gay and trans people (upheld explicitly for LGBT people by some law according to the Peoples Daily) isn’t allowed on national media and is strictly enforced. The media culture generally is very positive versus controversy seeking in comparison to the West.

      Also, no overt genocidal shit like Russia or Florida or something. Just general ignorance and knowing little about trans people. From what I’ve read from advocacy groups they think awareness has gone up a lot recently and they believe there will be a big shift in LGBT laws in China by 2030ish when the old cohort retires from the CPC

      And Cuba has the best LGBT laws on the books and they did it in short work after their old cohort died off, wouldn’t be surprised to see China do similar

      Really want to emphasize the hunting fascists down for sport part. There are online communists like us that, as a hobby, track down and report online fascists to the police, and there are tangible records of arrest from them doing that. I actually got in touch with one of these people and asked them about the LGBT situation among the youth and they seemed very positive about the progress.

      I’ve also talked with some rural trans chinese people and there is a very unfortunate and depressingly limited access to HRT outside of tier-1 cities. From what I understand, no one really becomes homeless like they do in the USA, housing is very cheap. Its also relatively easy to move to tier-1 cities, and there is a support network of trans people that help people do this and have lists of supportive doctors like they do in the USA. Self medicating is unfortunately very common outside of tier-1 cities, the black market, interestingly, is online and you must buy a potted plant that has HRT in a plastic baggie in the dirt (wild, there are lots of gardening jokes in trans spaces as a result). Phytoestrogen cocktails are also a common way of self medicating and there are guides online to make highly estrogenized teas. There are also menstruation products sold in pharmacies with high amounts of progesterone and estradiol and require no prescription, so they take these as well. Spironolactone and cypro are usually prescribed by dermatologists in China, so if you are sneaky you can get a dermatologist to prescribe them for acne and take over the counter birth control, though this option is still relegated to cities that do not have doctor shortages.

      Legal transition is a bit depressing, it has roughly the same laws as most southern states (re: you need surgery for gender marker change) and it also requires your family (!) to sign off on it and nullifies any marriage you currently have (like pre-gay marriage America). I do know there is a trick to get married to some trans person and then designate them as your family for the signature (and then the marriage will be nullified, so many friends do this), and you can ask your doctor to verify you had ‘the surgery’ (nebulous definition, like in America) and get your marker changed via that without surgery. This requires knowing a trans accepting doctor, which there are lists for.