Summary
Ling’er, a 28-year-old transgender woman in China, won a record 60,000 yuan ($8,200 USD) in compensation after being subjected to involuntary electroshock conversion therapy at a hospital.
Her parents admitted her in 2022, opposing her gender identity, and she endured seven sessions over 97 days, causing lasting health issues.
The court ruled her personal rights were violated, marking the first legal victory for a trans person against such practices in China.
LGBTQ+ advocates hailed the decision, highlighting persistent challenges and legal grey areas surrounding conversion practices in the country.
The relationship between family and social status is very, very different across many Asian countries than it is in the West generally. The same kinds of sentiments don’t really apply.
Not saying that it’s okay how the doctors and family treated this person, and it’s great that she got some justice after, quite untypical for the region, but I would discourage people from viewing these interactions through the lens of western norms. You likely have no idea.
I recognize their culture is geared towards collectivism rather than the individualism of the west. I think that collectivist mentality is great in many instances but this is a clear situation where its drawbacks rear their head.
I think it’s more beneficial to look at their level of progress towards accepting individuality as a journey we can learn lessons from. I don’t think it’s good any more than I think many of our own cultural norms are good, and definitely worse in many ways, but I just wanted to drop a reminder that people who read this and say “Why didn’t [person] just do [thing]??” or other judgements are probably completely missing how any of these people feel.