Nearly 600 transgender people in Vietnam who underwent sex reassignment surgery have proposed having their names and identification papers changed in accordance with their reassigned gender.

The information was announced on Tuesday by a representative of the Maternal and Child Health Department under the Ministry of Health.

The ministry has also suggested adding transgender people’s identification adjustment to a draft amendment to the Civil Code.

However, according to the ministry’s staff, current regulations do not allow the modification of transgender people's identification.

The only exception is for people who have a gender which is different from their looks due to defects in chromosomes or genitals.

Studies presented at a seminar on transgender people at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities in June last year showed that it is usually hard for young transgender people to access social and health services as well as land jobs because they do not have appropriate identification.

Transgender people face significant challenges because their appearance differs from the image on their ID card.

Below is a video featuring transgender people made and provided by ICS, an organization supporting the LGBT community’s rights in Vietnam: 

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