As the coronavirus has stolen all our attention, there is an underrepresented minority in the society that has been badly affected but disproportionately forgotten. They are LGBT people. 

The LGBT community is still considered an invisible and unorthodox group in the paradoxically, highly internationalized city. Many of them decide to live in the closet, out of the fear that discrimination and injustice are unconsciously attached to them. But why is the prejudice so entrenched? The answer could be that there has never been an official recognition of the group, or holistic laws to ensure their well-being.

I recently talked to a number of LGBT people to get an idea what they have been struggling with since COVID-19 hit.

A lesbian who lives with unsupportive parents found conflicts in her family were amplified. With LGBT events canceled, she felt cut off from her community, from which she drew safety and a sense of belonging. Psychological support and services haven’t been accessible, which increased her anxiety and loneliness. 

A transgender man says he was going to undertake his final sexual reassignment operation in Thailand, but the virus caused his plan to fall apart. He has been looking forward to this final surgery, because that will mark that he is a complete man. After the first operation in 2018, he quit his job, and hasn’t worked since. 

To him, the biggest blow created by the pandemic is to his self-confidence and hope. He feels that he can’t stand tall until he completes the surgery and therapy. He feels he is wasting his life this year because without an official male identity he can’t pursue employment.

Another transgender man, a lawyer, lost his job due to the economic fallout. He does not pin hopes on being hired anytime soon because he had repeatedly hit the wall in job interviews when the employers realized he is born to be a “she”. He found himself a loser, and an important part of “self” was whisked away from him along with the lawyer job.

Despite activists’ all-out efforts to fight for LGBT equity in all aspects of life, the underlying discrimination prevails in the labor market. 

In Hong Kong, one who wants to change gender on their ID card is required to get sexual reassignment surgery first.

Qualified surgeons specializing in this practice are scarce; there was only one experienced in the city in 2015. The lack of doctors has forced many to seek medical procedures overseas, which are very expensive.

Although Taiwan also requires reassignment surgery before changing one’s legal gender, sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination is legally prohibited in education, employment, and all other areas.

In Australia, the Sex Discrimination Act makes it unlawful to treat a person less favorably than another person in a similar situation because of their sexual orientation, gender-related identity and mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of the person.

In 2014, Australia abolished the sex reassignment surgery requirement for a change of sex on birth certificates, which it called “inhumane”.

A society can never be truly inclusive and normalize LGBT without legal protections and endorsements in place for sexual minorities. If we wish to see employers factor sexuality and gender identity out of the equation when they select and promote employees, the government must exert an extra effort to instill the message of inclusion in the labor market, and laud, and even subsidize the companies faring well.

The author is a Hong Kong-based journalist.