Joanne Leung raises transgender awarenessAnnemarie Evans, October 13, 2013
By the time she was six, Joanne Leung Wing-yan, born a boy with the name Donne, felt she should be a girl. But it wasn't until four years ago that Leung completed the sex-change surgery that would finally make her at peace with herself.
While Hong Kong society has gradually become more liberal in its views of gay and lesbian people, Leung says it's still tough for the transgender community.
"Already at six I felt I should be a girl,' she says. "In primary school I always played with the girls. Then I was at a secondary boys' school, so I tried to fit in."
Leung hid her dilemma for decades, and the strain led to four suicide bids. The self doubt, the feeling that you are alone and there is no one else like you, ate at her. Making it worse was the fact there was very little information available for transgender people.
Based on her own struggle, Leung works with several organisations, including as chair of the Transgender Resource Centre – where she works full time – to ensure other transgender people do not have to go through what she endured.
