TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan LGBTQ activist Chi Chia-wei (祁家威) filed a lawsuit against Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) Monday (Dec. 1), alleging dereliction of duty over unconstitutional gender change regulations requiring surgery. Chi accused the Ministry of the Interior (内政部) of infringing on transgender rights by requiring medical diagnosis and surgery proof for legal gender changes. The lawsuit challenges a 2008 directive that mandates surgical procedures for gender recognition.
Chi argued 50 countries now allow legal gender changes without surgery, compared to none when Taiwan implemented its 2008 directive requiring surgical procedures. Argentina pioneered surgery-free gender recognition in 2012, with 49 other countries following over the subsequent 13 years, demonstrating rapid global adoption. Chi noted legal gender change without surgery spread to 50 countries faster than marriage equality, which took 25 years to reach 40 countries, indicating the reform's feasibility.
The Control Yuan (監察院), Taiwan's government watchdog agency, approved a report Nov. 20 condemning the Ministry of the Interior's surgery requirement as a violation of legal principles and international human rights conventions. Control Yuan member Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) authored the report, which emphasized the surgery mandate severely infringes on bodily autonomy and health rights of transgender individuals. The report urged the Ministry of the Interior to review and improve its gender recognition policies promptly to comply with international standards.
The Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights (台灣伴侶權益推動聯盟), an LGBTQ advocacy group, called on the Executive Yuan (行政院), Taiwan's cabinet, and the Ministry of the Interior to implement the Control Yuan's recommendations immediately. The alliance urged abolition of mandatory surgery requirements to restore full bodily autonomy and gender self-determination rights to transgender citizens and end discriminatory practices. The organization emphasized transgender individuals should not face forced medical procedures for legal gender recognition.