Transgender people in Singapore

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The history and subculture surrounding transgender people in Singapore is substantial.[1] As with LGBT rights in the country in general, transgender rights in Singapore have also evolved significantly over time, including various laws and public attitudes in regards to identity documents, as well as anti-discrimination measures used by or pertaining to transgender people, in the areas of employment, education, housing and social services, amongst others.[1]

Gender-affirming surgery is legal in the country since 1973, the first country in Asia to legalise it. However, a citizen of Singapore is only able to change their legal sex after undergoing gender-affirming surgery, being physically examined by a relevant practitioner (such as an endocrinologist or plastic surgeon), and being found that genitalia has been completely changed. A change in gender marker applies to most government documents, including the NRIC and passport, only excluding the birth certificate (if the citizen was born in Singapore). In 1996, marriage was also legalised for transgender people.[2]

## Summary

[edit]

Right to change legal name  | Right to change legal gender  | Right to access medical treatment  | Right to marry  | Military service

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Deed poll and statutory declaration available  |  Since 1973  |  Always legal  |  Since 1996, after an amendment was made to the Women's Charter |  Since the 1990s[a]

## History

[edit]

### National service

[edit]

The Ministry of Defence declared in 2016 that only individuals who had been legally declared female would not be required to serve, thus limiting exemption of service only to transgender individuals who have undergone sex reassignment surgery (SRS). However due to the difficulty of transitioning early, only a very small percentage of transgender people in Singapore undergo SRS before having to enter National Service.[3]

Since 2016, the Ministry of Defence has changed its policy, allowing individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria -- whether prior to or during the pre-enlistee medical exam -- to receive exemption due to distress caused and high rate of comorbidity with several other psychiatric conditions.[4]

### Sex reassignment surgery

[edit]

Sexual reassignment surgery in Singapore are only conducted by approved gynecologists, such as Shan Ratnam. Surgery on genitalia had been done prior to 1971 but only for patients who had both male and female reproductive organs.[5]

The first sexual reassignment surgery, a male to female sex reassignment surgery, was done in July 1971 at Kandang Kerbau Hospital. The person was a 24-year-old Chinese Singaporean and had extensively cross dressed by her grandmother when young and then frequent the transgender scene in her teen years. She underwent psychological analysis by psychiatrists to be suitable for the surgery and legal approval was obtained from the Ministry of Health.[2][6]

In 1974, Ratnam also headed a team of surgeon to perform the first female to male sex reassignment surgery in Singapore[7] and probably the first in Southeast Asia,[8] was also offered at Kandang Kerbau Hospital and at Alexandra Hospital. A Gender Identity Clinic (GIC) and Gender Reassignment Surgery Clinic were set up at the National University Hospital two decades later. It was headed by Ratnam. For 30 years, Singapore was one of the world leaders in SRS, performing more than 500 such operations.[when?]

In the late 1980s, authorities requested hospitals to stop SRS for fear of exposure of HIV to surgical teams.[9] The request was subsequently stopped in 2001.[9]

Since 2013, no public hospitals in Singapore offer SRS.[9] In 2014, The Straits Times, the main local newspaper, asked Ministry of Health (MOH) on why the surgery was stopped, MOH replied that the surgery was not subsidied and done with safeguards.[9]

In 2024, Sengkang Group Representation Constituency's MP Jamus Lim asked MOH during parliament session on why SRS was stopped in 2014 and any plans to resume SRS, MOH replied that it still offered SRS for medically necessary care and not subsidied.[10]

### Transitioning as a minor

[edit]

Through the public healthcare system, permission from guardians is required for those under 21 to undergo medical transition, but hormone replacement therapy is not available for those under 18; transition through the private healthcare system traditionally adheres to different guidelines. Minors additionally face barriers in social transition, particularly in the public education system, with a lack of accommodations for issues such as bathroom choice and school uniforms.[11]

### Legal reforms

[edit]

In 1973, Singapore legalised SRS. A policy was instituted to enable post-operative transgender people to change the legal gender on their National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) but not their birth certificates[12] and other documents which flowed from that. There was no specific provision in the statutes which allowed the Registrar to do this, so it existed probably only at the level of a policy directive.

### Transgender marriage

[edit]

Before 1996, Singapore legally did not allow transgender marriage but it was implicitly allowed before 1991.[13] Before 1991, the Registry of Marriages (ROM) only verify the gender of couples based on their legal gender recorded on the NRIC which can be changed after a successful SRS.[12]

In 1990, a woman successfully received an annulment of her marriage with her husband after failing to have sex on their wedding night. Later, she discovered that her spouse was transgender and subsequently petitioned the High Court for an annulment, which was granted.[14][15] As a response, ROM began requiring couples to produce their birth certificates (of which gender markers are inalterable) during declaration of their intent of marriage.[16]

In 1996, a bill was presented by Senior Minister for State for Community Development Ch'ng Jit Koon before the Parliament of Singapore to amend the Women's Charter with recognition of marriages involving transexuals among various changes.[17] Minister for Community Development Abdullah Tarmugi said that the 1991 High Court ruling (Lim Ying v Hiok Kian Ming Eric) was taken into consideration for the amendment during a press conference. If the amendment was adopted, the person who had undergone a sex change procedure would be deemed a person of the new gender and allowed to marry as the new gender.[18] On 24 January, Minister for Community Development Abdullah Tarmugi announced that post-operative transgender people are allowed to marry opposite-sex spouses.[2]

## See also

[edit]

* Singapore gay terminology
* LGBT rights in Singapore
* List of transgender-related topics

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ See transgender people in Singapore#National service for more details.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Kaan, Terry Sheung-Hung (22 December 2015). "Singapore". The Legal Status of Transsexual and Transgender Persons: 391–424\. doi:10.1017/9781780685588.019. ISBN 9781780685588. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
2. ^ a b c Chan Meng Choo (2011). "First sex reassignment surgery". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board. Archived from the original on 1 June 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
3. ^ "Reply to Media Queries on Transgender Individual Serving NS". www.mindef.gov.sg. Ministry of Defence. 1 May 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2022. "All male Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents above the age of 18 years are required to serve National Service (NS) if they are medically fit. Those who are legally declared female will not be required to serve NS."
4. ^ Mazaheri Meybodi, Azadeh; Hajebi, Ahmad; Ghanbari Jolfaei, Atefeh (2014). "Psychiatric Axis I Comorbidities among Patients with Gender Dysphoria". Psychiatry Journal. 2014: 1–5\. doi:10.1155/2014/971814. ISSN 2314-4327.
5. ^ Yeo, Joseph (31 July 1971). "First sex change surgery in S'pore". The Straits Times. p. 17\. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
6. ^ Tan, Wee Lian (11 November 1971). "They're still 'misters' despite sex change". The Straits Times. p. 8\. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2023 - via NewspaperSG.
7. ^ Kwee, Masie (20 October 1974). "S'pores first sex change woman". The Straits Times. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2023 - via NewspaperSG.
8. ^ Kwee, Masie (25 February 1975). "4 WOMEN AWAIT SEX CHANGE OPERATION". The Straits Times. p. 4\. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2023 - via NewspaperSG.
9. ^ a b c d Shan, Hoe Pei (28 December 2014). "Sex change operations dwindling in Singapore". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
10. ^ "Gender Confirmation Surgery". Ministry of Health.
11. ^ "Trans Healthcare in Singapore". TransgenderSG.
12. ^ a b Chong, Gillian Pow (3 November 1986). "Sex-change cases can get new ICs". The Straits Times. p. 13. Retrieved 3 September 2023 - via NewspaperSG.
13. ^ Goh, Teng Teng (26 January 1996). "They were allowed to wed before". The New Paper. p. 9\. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
14. ^ Lim Ying v. Hiok Kian Ming Eric, Divorce Petition No. 2560/90 (SGHC 1991).
15. ^ Han, Tan Cheng (1991). "Transsexuals and the Law of Marriage in Singapore: Lim Ying v. Hiok Kian Ming Eric". Singapore Journal of Legal Studies: 509–516\. ISSN 0218-2173. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
16. ^ Gwee, Elisabeth (30 August 1996). "'I do' — and no need to state gender at birth". The Straits Times. p. 6\. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2023 - via NewspaperSG.
17. ^ "More emphasis to be given to contributions made by homemakers". The Straits Times. 19 January 1996. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024 - via NewspaperSG.
18. ^ Wang, Hui Ling (25 January 1996). "Nod to marriages of sex-change persons 'practical'". The Straits Times. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024 - via NewspaperSG.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Sisterhood by Leona Lo (Select Books, 2003, ISBN 981-04-7198-X)- a personalised emotional exposé of the local transvestite and transsexual community by an intellectual trans woman herself.
* My Sisters: Their Stories by Leona Lo and Lance Lee (Viscom Editions Pte Ltd)
* Cries from Within' by S. Shan Ratnam; Victor H. H. Goh and Tsoi Wing Foo – a tome on sex-reassignment surgery and its attendant psychological considerations by two eminent gynaecologists and a psychiatrist.

## External links

[edit]

* Transgender SG: A homegrown resource for transgender people in Singapore
* Transgender People In Singapore

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* Bissu, Calabai, Calalai
* Burrnesha
* Cisgender
* Gender bender
* Hijra
* Non-binary or genderqueer
* Gender fluidity
* Kathoey
* Koekchuch
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* Cross-dressing
* Deadnaming
* Gender binary
* Gender detransitioning
* Gender expression
* Gender transitioning
* Gender identity
* Gender modality
* Gender nonconformity
* Gender-sexuality questioning
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* Rapid-onset dysphoria
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