The Hong Kong government is considering appealing against a court ruling that granted transgender people access to public toilets in line with their affirmed genders.
In a statement on Thursday, a day after the High Court ruled in favour of a trans man challenging the laws that ban people from entering public bathrooms designated for the opposite sex, the government said it was considering an appeal and that the laws were still in effect.
The segregation of sex in public toilet use was “widely accepted by society” and the provisions protected privacy and safety, the government said.
“The establishment of sex-segregated public toilets… aims to protect the privacy and safety of the public when using public toilets, and to reflect social norms and expectations,” the Environmental and Ecology Bureau (EEB) spokesperson said.
The EEB oversees the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), which manages Hong Kong’s public toilets and bathrooms.
In a judgment handed down on Wednesday, High Court Judge Russell Coleman ordered the government to strike down two provisions in the city’s Public Conveniences (Conduct and Behaviour) Regulation.
Provisions 7 and 9 of the PCCBR state that no male person, other than a child under five who is accompanied by a female relative or nurse, can enter a public toilet allocated for women, and vice versa.
Coleman said the laws “create a disproportionate and unnecessary intrusion into the privacy and equality rights” and contravened Article 25 of the Basic Law, under which all Hong Kong residents are equal before the law.
“Many trans people choose not to use public conveniences at all, due to fear, the threat of harassment, and to avoid having their gender identity invalidated or undermined,” the judge wrote.
But he suspended the order for one year to allow the government to “consider and implement the appropriate way to resolve the contravention.”
The PCCBR only applies to public toilets managed by the FEHD. The High Court judgment did not touch upon the regulations of privately managed toilets accessible to the general public.
K, the trans man who filed the judicial review – a legal tool to challenge government policies – against the public toilet laws, called Wednesday’s court ruling “a progressive step towards a more gender-friendly environment in Hong Kong.”
“Today, my transgender friends who are still undergoing gender transitions and I can openly use public restrooms without fear of being denied,” he said in a Chinese-language statement released by his legal representatives after the verdict was released.
Transgender concern group Quarks urged the government to “immediately strike down” the provisions, as well as to comprehensively review gender-related laws and policies.
The government said in the Thursday statement that gender-neutral toilets, including accessible toilets for the disabled and unisex toilets, were available “near about half of all sex-segregated toilets.”
Such facilities “are available for use by all members of the public, including transgender individuals,” the government said.
