A Hong Kong court has ruled in favor of a transgender man challenging city regulations that restrict access to public restrooms based on sex assigned at birth.
The judgment allows transgender individuals greater access to facilities matching their gender identity.
Judge Russell Coleman supported a legal challenge brought by a transgender man, known as K, who argued that being barred from using male public toilets violated his constitutional rights.
The judge found that the regulation conflicts with Hong Kong’s Basic Law, which states that all residents should be treated equally.
However, the court suspended the effect of the ruling for 12 months.
This delay gives the government time to consider how it plans to respond and potentially revise the existing rules.
Under current laws, only children under five accompanied by an adult of the opposite sex are allowed to enter restrooms that do not match their sex assigned at birth.
Anyone else faces a fine of up to HK$2,000 (about US$255) for violating this rule.
K filed the case in 2022, seeking an exemption for transgender people who have been medically diagnosed with gender dysphoria and are living in their affirmed gender as part of their transition process.
The ruling was welcomed by LGBTQ+ advocacy group Quarks, which supports transgender youth in Hong Kong. The organization called on officials to take swift action and improve legal protections for transgender individuals.
This case is part of a broader legal shift in the city. In 2023, Hong Kong’s top court decided that full sex reassignment surgery should not be a requirement for changing one’s gender marker on identity documents.
The government later updated its policy, setting new conditions such as specific surgeries or long-term hormonal treatment.
In April 2025, activist Henry Tse, who previously won the right to update his ID without full surgery, filed a new challenge against those ongoing requirements.