Vietnam OK's
gender reassignment surgery

Under a draft decree, Vietnam will permit transgender people to undergo gender reassignment surgery starting next January, according to local newspaper Saigon Liberation on Monday.

Under the decree, recently submitted to the government by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, transgender people (whose psychological self is in conflict with the social expectations for the physical sex they were born with) and people having unclear gender identity can undergo gender reassignment surgery.

The decree also stipulates that people with clear gender identity, including gays and lesbians who deny heterosexual experience, are not allowed to undergo gender reassignment surgery.

If approved, the decree will take effect on January 1. (The Advocate)