Transgender draft law calls for maternity, marriage rights in Vietnam
By Le Nga August 29, 2022 | 02:00 am PT

Kha Ai (4th, L), a transgender woman, and her fiancé at their betrothal ceremony in Khanh Hoa Province, on March 20, 2022. Photo courtesy of Kha Ai
A draft for Vietnam's Transgender Law is calling for people to be entitled to maternity benefits and the right to marry according to their gender.

Trans men who either carry or give birth to babies would be entitled to maternity benefits in accordance with laws on labor and social insurance, while transgender people would be entitled to the right to marry in accordance with their gender, as well as any other right per the law and the Constitution, once they have been acknowledged as transgender, experts told a conference regarding the Transgender Law draft last week.

The draft also stated that a transgender person does not need to undergo medical intervention to be recognized as trans, and that medical interventions are entirely voluntary.

"Besides their rights for voluntary medical intervention, transgender people do not have to undergo sterilization after genital surgeries, except if they want to," said Pham Thi Hao from the legal department of the Ministry of Health.

According to data from the health ministry, there are around 480,000 transgender people in Vietnam, but actual numbers are much higher due to stigma. Transgender people often face discrimination, prejudice and bias from society, with one in every three transgender people facing such issues within the past 12 months.
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