Vietnam's Ministry of Health is working on a draft law that would create an official legal status for transgender people in the country.
Tuoi Tre reports that the draft Law on Transgender is being crafted by the ministry in consultation with the Ministries of Home Affairs, Justice and Foreign Affairs. It is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly for review in 2019.
In 2015, the assembly passed a new Civil Code that recognized transgender people for the first time. As a result, individuals who have had sex reassignment surgery can now register under their new gender.
The news source shares that Ministry of Health statistics estimate Vietnam's transgender population at 270,000-300,000 people. Nguyen Huy Quang, the director of the ministry's legal department, told Tuoi Tre that transgender people face legal and administrative difficulties due to a lack of official recognition of their status.
Even under the amended Civil Code, this group has trouble accessing healthcare, banking and public services, for example.
According to Quang, the law will enable "a more comprehensive view of the transgender community, which is a particularly vulnerable group of citizens. The lack of legal recognition has rendered them 'invisible' in the eyes of the law and led them to face tremendous difficulties in life."
[Photo via Tuoi Tre]
