China - Post-operative gender variant woman gets new Chinese ID

<http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-04/16/content_6622282.htm>

                

CHINA / Regional

Tianjin transsexual gets new Chinese ID card as a woman

(Xinhua)

2008-04-16 19:59

BEIJING - Ying Ning, the 33-year-old Tianjin man who became a woman 

through transsexual operations, got a new Chinese ID card as a female 

on Tuesday.

"I am so excited to receive it after a month-long wait," said Ying, 

who is believed to be the first transsexual person in China to go 

public with the media under a new gender.

"The ID card has a special meaning for me, that I have been accepted 

by society. It will be the beginning of my new life," Ying told a 

reporter with the Tianjin-based newspaper Daily News.

"I was embarrassed by some people's curious looks. I had to give up my 

trip to Zhejiang for a winter vacation because I was worried that the 

male gender on my old ID card would confuse the airport's security 

staff," said Ying. "I was really sensitive over this at that time."

At that point, Ying applied to the local police station for a new ID 

card. Regulations require such applicants to provide medical proof of 

a gender change and parental consent, even for those of legal age.

Born in 1975, Ying, a native Tianjin resident, married a woman in 

1998, but the marriage ended months later. "I felt sorry for my ex- wife, but I knew I could not bring her happiness. I always wanted to 

be a woman," said Ying.

Ying underwent about 20 operations starting in November 2006.

China is believed to have more than 1,000 people who have received 

such operations, but only Ying has acknowledged her new identity, 

according to the People's Daily website.

END