Vietnam will, under a draft decree, permit transgender people to undergo sexual transformation operation, from next January, according to local newspaper Saigon Liberation on Monday.

Under the draft decree recently submitted to the government by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, transgender people, whose psychological self differs from the social expectations for the physical sex they were born with (for example, a female with a masculine gender identity or who identifies as a man), and people having unclear gender identity, can undergo the operation. After the operation, they will have new gender identity.

The draft decree also stipulates that people with clear gender identity, including gays and lesbians who deny heterosexual experience due to deviations in their lifestyles or behaviors, are not allowed to undergo sexual transformation operation.

If approved, the decree will take effect on Jan. 1, 2007.

Local media have recently quoted estimation of some local medical workers as reporting that 0.3-1 percent of Vietnam's population of 83.1 million people are now gays and lesbians.

Source: Xinhua