After a trans woman took her life in Hong Kong, people are calling on the government to change its laws.

More than 1000 people have signed a petition asking to make the laws friendlier to trans people.

In early July, the 25-year-old woman took her life at a busy Metro station. At the time of her death advocates said her suicide showed the hardship trans people faced in Hong Kong.

‘Every day to know whether you’re able to live, to wake up every day secretly crying in bed, every day watching the world and want to run,’ the woman wrote on Facebook shortly before her death.

‘I am sorry to speak of death, but I have to clearly describe the situation in which my gender role is difficult to gain social acceptance.’

The petition is accompanied by a joint statement from leading advocacy groups and organizations.

The statement asks for the government to move quickly on the Gender Recognition Act. It also called on the media to respectfully report on gender and for all people to treat trans people better.

It also says the government should uphold international human right standards and guarantee the protection of LGBTI people.

Government’s inertia

Hong Kong’s first openly-gay politician said the government’s ‘inertia’ was negatively affecting the lives of LGBTI people in Hong Kong.

‘Those who [are] opposed to legislation, and those who use the worst language and exhibit egregious behaviours to reject us as full members of society have blood on their hands,’ he told Hong Kong Free Press.

In March, Hong Kong’s Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) and the Gender Research Centre (GRC) of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong issued a joint statement also calling on the government to act on LGBTI rights.

The statement was supported by 75 wide-ranging organizations, academics, businesses and religious bodies.

‘Across the world, the plight of LGBTI communities has been gaining increasing concern. As human societies progress, governments are expected to take greater responsibility in defending the marginalised and vulnerable groups in society from discriminatory treatment,’ said EOC chairperson Professor Alfred Chan Cheung-ming.