Report

Public Opinion of Transgender Rights in China

June 2021

There is limited research on attitudes toward transgender people in China. This report analyzes data collected in the 2017 Global Attitudes Toward Transgender People survey, one of the largest surveys on this topic to date, to examine public opinion of transgender rights and status in China.

AUTHORS
Highlights
A majority of participants agreed that they want China to do more to support and protect transgender people.
Female participants and younger participants generally reported more positive attitudes towards transgender people and their rights.
Participants who knew a transgender person were more likely to say transgender people engage in a criminal activity.
Data Points
46%
of participants reported having seen transgender people, but not knowing them personally
14%
reported having transgender acquaintances
Report

Introduction

This report presents information on public opinion about transgender people and their rights in China. We analyzed data from the 2017 Global Attitudes Toward Transgender People survey, China panel, to provide new information on views toward transgender people, their rights, and their status in society. 

There is limited research on attitudes toward transgender people in China. A 2016 study of social attitudes towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people in China, with a non-probability sample of 28,454 respondents, found that among social institutions families have the lowest degree of acceptance of LGBTI people (57.6% of the respondents indicated “low acceptance” or “complete rejection” in families); more than half of respondents were “not sure” about levels of acceptance in schools, workplaces, and religious communities.1 Another report of a nonprobability sample suggested that nearly 90% of families are not accepting of transgender family members, and 70.8% of transgender people experience school violence.2 This low acceptance may reflect a Chinese culture that emphasizes traditional gender norms.3 That said, at the societal level, Chinese people appear to be accepting of transgender people with whom they do not have a personal or familial connection. For example, Jin Xing, an openly transgender woman, is one of the most popular talk show hosts in China. Her show has more than 1 million viewers per week, and she is very popular among mainstream audiences.4 In contrast to the low level of acceptance in many parts of mainland China, a 2017 study of Hong Kong residents age 18 and over found that 80% of Hong Kong people are very accepting, moderately accepting, or a little accepting of transgender people, and 67% completely or somewhat agreed that Hong Kong should have a law that protects people from being discriminated against because they are transgender.5 

Research in China has shown that family pressure is a great concern for transgender people. Research shows that levels of family acceptance of transgender people is low. For example, a 2017 survey by the Beijing LGBT Center, which collected a nonprobability sample of transgender people, indicated that the majority (59.7%) of parents or guardians of transgender people who were transitioning at that time were unsupportive of their transition. Of 1,640 participants whose parents or guardians knew or guessed their transgender status, all but six experienced violence from a parent or guardian.6 Another survey of 1,309 transgender women and men across 32 provinces and municipalities in China also showed that a vast majority of transgender women (90.4%) and transgender men (84.5%) reported “intense conflicts with parents,” and that such conflict was significantly associated with an increased risk of suicide attempts.7 Another survey, conducted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), collected a nonprobability sample of adults in China and reported that “compared with other minorities … trans people face the highest levels of discrimination, especially within the family, schools, and workplaces.”8 

Chinese law is largely silent on transgender rights. Without a comprehensive anti-discrimination law in China, there are only a few prohibitions of discrimination based on “sex,” mainly in employment and education settings.9 Yet, it is unclear whether these regulations can apply to transgender people. Reports suggest that transgender people suffer discrimination in the workplace10 – the unemployment rate among transgender people is nearly three times that of the general population, according to one study.11 The vast majority of primary and secondary schools in China require students to wear school uniforms based on their legal gender identity and only provide gender-specific dorms, restrooms, and bathrooms for their students – all of which are informed by a binary notion of gender.12 There is no explicit ban on transgender people joining the military, but transgender people who have undergone gender-affirming surgeries (GAS) would fail the military physical examination due to surgical history.13 

China allows transgender people to change their names and gender markers on their identity documents, requiring complete GAS and a certificate of gender authentication from a domestic hospital, along with verification issued by a notary office or “judicial authentication institution.”14 However, there are still great difficulties for transgender people to amend their gender markers on various other official documents, including academic certificates, diplomas, and vocational qualification certificates, which poses serious challenges for obtaining jobs.15 16 17 To access GAS in China, transgender people have to meet a number of strict and often insurmountable requirements. These include: providing a formal diagnosis of “transsexualism,” notifying immediate family members, submitting an official verification that they have no prior criminal record, and being over 20 years old and unmarried.18 In practice, “notifying immediate family members” has translated to notary-verified “consent letters from parents,” regardless of the transgender person’s age, which may not only intensify conflict between the transgender person and their family but may be impossible to obtain for many transgender individuals. 

Regarding the right to form a family, transgender people are allowed to marry a person of a gender different than their legally recognized gender. The old GAS regulation requires that “the patient[’s] sexual orientation is directed at the opposite of their target gender,”19 though this requirement has been deleted in the new GAS regulation.20 China outlaws surrogacy, while other assisted reproductive technologies are provided only to married couples who have infertility as a form of medical arrangement.21 There is no law forbidding transgender people from adopting children.22 In practice, it is unclear whether transgender status deems a person “unfit for adopting a child”; however, there are several cases of openly transgender people successfully adopting children.23 24

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Public Opinion of Transgender Rights in China

United Nations Development Programme. (2016). Being LGBTI in China – A National Survey on Social Attitudes towards Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression (中国性少数群体生存状况:基于性倾向、性别认同及性别表达的社会态度调查报告). Beijing, China: United Nations Development Programme. Available at: http://www.cn.undp.org/content/ dam/china/img/demgov/Publication/UNDP-CH-PEG-Being%20LGBT%20in%20China_EN.pdf 

Beijing LGBT Center & Department of Sociology – Peking University. (2017). 2017 Chinese Transgender Population General Survey Report (2017中国跨性别群体生存现状调查报告). Beijing, China: Beijing LGBT Center and Department of Sociology – Peking University. Available at: http://www.chinadevelopmentbrief.cn/publications/2017-chinese-transgender-population-general-survey-report/ 

United Nations Development Programme. (2014). Being LGBT in Asia: China Country Report: A Participatory Review and Analysis of the Legal and Social Environment for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Persons and Civil Society (“亚洲同志项目中国国别报告:对LGBT人群及民间社会所处的法律与社会环境的参与式调查与分析). Beijing, China: UNDP China Country Office. Available at: https://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/HIV- AIDS/Governance%20of%20 HIV%20Responses/Being%20LGBT%20in%20Asia%20-%20China%20Country%20Report%20.pdf 

Lisa Cam & Laramie Mok. (2018). Who is Jin Xing, China’s only transgender celebrity?. Available at: https://www.scmp. com/magazines/style/people-events/article/2173609/who-jin-xing-chinas-only-transgender-celebrity 

Loper, K., Lau, H., Lau, C., & Suen, Y. T. (2019). Public Attitudes Towards Transgender People and Antidiscrimination Legislation (公眾對跨性別人士及保障跨性別人士的反歧視立法之民意調查). Centre for Comparative and Public Law, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID3454453_ code1617212.pdf?abstractid=3387194&mirid=1 

Beijing LGBT Center & Department of Sociology – Peking University. (2017). 2017 Chinese Transgender Population General Survey Report. Beijing, China: Beijing LGBT Center and Department of Sociology – Peking University. Available at: http://www.chinadevelopmentbrief.cn/publications/2017-chinese-transgender-population-general-survey-report/ 

Chen, R., Zhu, X., Wright, L., Drescher, J., Gao, Y., Wu, L., Ying, X., Qi, J., Chen, C., Xi, Y., Ji, L., Zhao, H., Ou, J., & Broome, M. R. (2019). Suicidal ideation and attempted suicide amongst Chinese transgender persons: National population study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 245, 1126-1134. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.12.011 

Loper, K., Lau, H., Lau, C., & Suen, Y. T. (2019). Public Attitudes Towards Transgender People and Antidiscrimination Legislation (公眾對跨性別人士及保障跨性別人士的反歧視立法之民意調查). Centre for Comparative and Public Law, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID3454453_ code1617212.pdf?abstractid=3387194&mirid=1 

See, Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (2018 Amendment)(中华人民共和国宪法(2018年修正)), Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests (2018 Amendment)(中华人民共和国妇女权益保障法(2018年修正)), Employment Promotion Law of the People’s Republic of China (2015 Amendment)(中华人民共和国就业促进法(2015年修正)), Labor Law of the People’s Republic of China (2018 Amendment)(中华人民共和国劳动法(2018年修正)), Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Minors (2012 Amendment)(中华人民共和国未成年人保护法(2012年修正)), and Compulsory Education Law of the People’s Republic of China (2018 Amendment)(中华人民共和国义务教育法(2018年修正)). Advertising law of the People’s republic of china (2015) (中华人民共和国广告法(2015)) 

UNDP (2014) 

Beijing LGBT Center & Department of Sociology – Peking University. (2017)

北京纪安德Beijing Gender. (2019). 中国跨性别者受教育权状况研究报告(Chinese Transgender People Right to Education Report). Beijing, China: Beijing Gender. Available at: https://alicliimg.clewm. net/593/073/5073593/1553788087888fe253fd9af3a52099e4be0d88dc3d6ab1553788083.pdf 

The Standards for Physical Examination of the Citizens to be Recruited (For Trial Implementation) (2014) (应征公民体格检查标准(试行)(2014)) 

Ministry of Public security order no. 478 (2008) (公治〔2008478 号批复) and ministry of Public security order no. 131 (2002) (公治〔2008131 号批复) 

United Nations Development Programme & China Women’s University. (2018). Legal Gender Recognition in China: A Legal and Policy Review (跨性别者性别认同的法律承认:中国相关法律和政策的评估报告). Beijing, China: UNDP China Country Office. Available at: http://www.cn.undp.org/content/china/en/home/library/democratic_governance/legal-gender-recognition-in-china–a-legal-and-policy-review-.html 

Beijing LGBT Center & Department of Sociology – Peking University. (2017). 

UNDP (2014) 

Sex Reassignment Procedural Management Standards (2017) ( 性别重置技术管理规范(2017)) 

Sex Change Operation Procedural Management Standards (Provisional) (2009) (变性手术技术管理规范(试行)(2009)) 

Sex Reassignment Procedural Management Standards (2017) ( 性别重置技术管理规范(2017)) 

The Measures on Administration of Assistive Human Reproduction Technology (2001) (人类辅助生殖技术管理办法(2001)). 

Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (2020) (中华人民共和国民法典(2020)) 

See, Zhejiang Online News Website (2005). A Hangzhou Transgender Person’s Application to Adopt a Child is Approved. (杭州一变性人领养儿童申请获批). Available at: http://zjnews.zjol.com.cn/05zjnews/system/2005/06/27/006145067.shtml 

See, Abid Rahman (2016). Meet the Oprah of China, Who Happens to Be Transgender. Available at: https://www. hollywoodreporter.com/features/meet-oprah-china-who-happens-be-transgender-942750