China Opens First Ever Clinic For Trans Children

China Opens First Ever Clinic For Trans Children
Image: Shanghai Pride 2020. Image: Facebook

A children’s hospital in Shanghai is the new home for China鈥檚 first ever clinic for transgender kids.

The Children鈥檚 Hospital of Fudan University announced earlier this month that they would create a clinic to help trans children 听鈥渞educe the negative emotions鈥 they may feel and also help 鈥渋mprove their family relationships鈥.

The clinic officially opened last week, and is China鈥檚 first of its kind facility to support trans children with their gender identity.听

The hospital said the reason they wanted to open up this facility was because there had been an increase in the cases of transgender children seeking help.

High Rates Of Depression And Anxiety

Chinese tabloid Global Times听had published a study of 1,309 people from 32 provinces in 2019 that revealed that transgender students had higher rates of severe depression and anxiety compared to the general population.听

A recent case involved a transgender teenager who was experiencing serious mental health issues due to their parents refusing to acknowledge their gender identity and preventing the child from receiving medical advice.

Eventually the family did visit the hospital and after an evaluation the doctors declared the child’s gender identity was valid. They prescribed them with medication to stop menstruation, which also stabilised the child’s mental health.

Director of the Beijing LGBT Center told 听Sixth Tone that the new health clinic for trans children was 听鈥渄efinitely a good sign.鈥

鈥淚t鈥檚 essential to have transgender clinics targeted towards children and teenagers because many transgender people develop gender awareness in childhood.鈥澨

Chinese Government’s Anti-17c起草社区I Policies

While China has been praised for opening the trans inclusive health resource, the government has been called out recently for its anti-17c起草社区IA+ stances and policies.

In September, the Chinese Government introduced new guidelines for TV broadcasts, video games and streaming platforms that banned them from having听. Shortly thereafter, the country introduced a policy banning 17c起草社区IA+ characters from video games.

Chinese tech-giant WeChat has also contributed to the government’s anti-17c起草社区I agenda by deleting dozens of LGBT accounts run by university students.听Recently, a high profile 17c起草社区I advocacy group in China shut down all their social media platforms and announced they would stop their activism work indefinitely.

LGBT Rights Advocacy China was one of the few activist groups in the country that focused on law and policy change and were involved in various campaigns and lawsuit for marriage equality and workplace discrimination.

The group did not provide a reason for shutting down but the the Ministry of Civil Affairs in China announced the same week that they have dealt with 3,300 illegal social organisations and had shut down 200 illegal websites and individual social media accounts that were not registered with any government entity.听

It is still not confirmed if the group was shut down as part of the government campaign.听听

 

For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14

For Australia-wide 17c起草社区I peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or .

 

 

 

 

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