Tag Archives: China

For a long time, Chinese people have known little about the transgender group，which is often regarded as weird, mysterious or even abnormal in domestic society. However, the fact is we should get close to transgender people in order to know them, understand them and provide care for them.

In fact, transgender people are only different in regard to their gender identity and gender expression, and are not suffering from mental disorder. Additionally, they should not be confused with homosexuals to whom they are not necessarily related.

The term “transgender” refers to people whose gender identity or gender expression is different from the biological sex assigned to them at birth. It includes the transgender man, being identified as a “female-to-male” (FTM) person, and transgender woman, who refers to “male-to-female” (MTF) people.

Besides, some ambiguous people, who may feel their gender identity is both male and female, or neither male nor female, are also defined as trans people.

The transgender group in China has been facing great pressure and challenges, and their life is filled with worries. According to an online survey released on Monday by the Beijing LGBT Center and Peking University, 61.5 percent of 2,060 polled transgender people were experiencing depression, and 73.2 percent had some level of anxiety; 46.2 percent reported they had considered suicide, with 12.7 percent ultimately attempting to do so.

Reasons for their psychological disorders are the pressure and challenges they are encountering in the country. Their gender expression and appeal for sex reassignment are not accepted by the society.

Transgender people are facing discrimination or even violence at home, in schools and workplace. They also have difficulties in seeking medical treatment.

Nearly 90 percent of the natal families cannot fully accept their transgender children. Of the respondents who indicated they had a partner, spouse, or child, only four of them (3.8 percent) said they had not experienced violence. Among all respondents, 70.8 percent reported being subject to some form of violence at school.

The survey also indicates few transgender people seek mental health treatment, with the most common reason provided that therapists will not be able to understand their difficulties.

However, efforts have been made around the world to provide more care for the transgender group and show respect to their gender identities and gender expressions.

Facebook provides 56 gender options for users who don’t identify simply as “male” or “female”. Some European countries and North America cover transgender-related surgery and hormone therapy in their public health care system.

Nowadays, China’s policy and attitude towards transgender people is being improved. Its regulations on sex reassignment surgery have become friendlier for people who want to change their sex. Gender-neutral bathrooms have also been promoted.

However, we still have a long way to go to improve the living conditions of the trans population and realize real equality among those people who have different values of gender identity and expression.

Dong Deyu, a man who has a rare type of blood, has donated his blood to help people in need for more than a decade.

A native of Hefei, Anhui province, Dong, 37, first donated blood in 2005, when he worked in a trading company in Shanghai.

“I learned about blood donation from my cousin who is a nurse, which made me want to help save people by donating my blood,” Dong said, according to an article of Visual China Group.

The first time, Dong donated 200 milliliters of blood in a blood donation center.

Although Dong’s family protested his decision, saying blood donation might harm his health, that did not change his mind.

Six months later, Dong learned at a blood collection center that he has Type O, Rh-negative blood, which is also known as “panda blood” in China as only three in one thousand people have such a blood type and Rh factor.

Therefore, Dong decided to donate more blood. And he shared his experiences and knowledge about blood donation with people around him.

Since 2008, Dong started donating platelet after learning that this approach would be more conducive to patients in need of blood. He donates on a regular basis – once every 14 days, the minimum interval allowed.

He also enrolled himself in the national data base of donators of hemopoietic stem cells, in hope of saving patients with blood diseases one day.

For the past 12 years, Dong has donated whole blood of 3,600ml in total and palate for 56 times.

Influenced by him, some relatives and friends of his also began donating blood regularly.

A survey released on Monday found that transgender people are in high need of medical services, with 62 percent having a demand for hormone therapies, and 51 percent having a demand for gender reassignment treatment. Both demands are not fully satisfi… read more

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