The Vietnamese Ministry of Justice has required authorities in Binh Phuoc Province to temporarily withdraw their decisions on a local transgender case pending the prime minister’s opinion.
Pham Van Hiep after transgender surgery
A decision made by the Chon Thanh District People's Committee in 2009 would have allowed Pham Van Hiep, born in 1974, to re-define his gender from male to female and change his name to Pham Le Quynh Tram.
This decision made Tram the first legally transgender woman recognised by the government.
However, recently provincial officials have requested that the decision be withdrawn, explaining that the recognition of gender change goes against the government’s Decree 88 on banning people with no 'gender problems' from changing gender. They took the additional step to punish the district-level staff who originally approved the gender change.
The Ministry of Health has requested that the HCM City Department of Health instruct Children’s Hospital No. 2 to conduct medical examinations in order to reclassify Hiep's gender.
Medical tests conducted in 2006 showed that Hiep had high levels of estrogen and other female characteristics. Doctors advised him to go to Thailand to receive a sex-change operation.
Tram, who is now a teacher, has vowed to fight the case.
Tram said, “I am very happy to hear about the halt of revoking decisions. In case of medical re-checks, I intend to comply with the law. Over the past two months, my life has been in tumult because the future remains uncertain."
The Ministry of Health has assigned three hospitals to be responsible for ruling on gender change operations, namely the Viet Duc Hospital and National Hospital of Paediatrics in Hanoi and Children’s Hospital No. 2 in HCM City.
Dr. Tran That, Director of the Ministry of Justice’s Administrative Department, said the ministry would protect and support transgender people and were currently waiting for the National Assembly’s decision on new regulations relating to the issue.
