Lam Yick and Jesse Pang
HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s first prominent transgender singer-songwriter, Xavian Wu, used the city’s annual LGBTQ Pink Dot Hong Kong Carnival, held in the city on Sunday, to tell his own story through music.
Wu, 30, who uses the stage name SY, made his debut in February, releasing three songs about a journey of self-discovery that he spoke about at a festival marking his 10th anniversary.
“A lot has happened in the past 10 years, including for me. From not knowing myself, to realizing I am transgender, to overcoming many difficulties step by step, to knowing how to accept my life now,” Wu told the audience of several dozen people.
“I’m proud of my identity and have learned to embrace it and I don’t want to hide,” Wu told Reuters. “My goal is to uplift people in the LGBTQ community through my music.”
Hong Kong allows transgender people who have not undergone full gender reassignment surgery to change the gender on their identity cards, but it comes with strict surgical and hormone requirements.
Wu applied for a gender change in April but is still waiting for approval of some medical documents from immigration authorities.
“This is another step in the right direction, but there is still room for improvement,” Wu said.
He said his life before his gender transition was difficult, especially coming out to his parents. He said he felt depressed about his body, hid at home and avoided women’s bathrooms.
“It was so painful that I really wanted to die,” Wu said.
He began enjoying music and performing as a teenager, as music helped him when he had “a lot of thoughts that couldn’t be expressed in words.”
“I was lucky to be able to use music to record my feelings at a time when the world didn’t understand my situation,” Wu said.
He realised he was transgender in 2017 after watching a health programme in which a trans man spoke about his experiences and feelings before transitioning.
He began taking testosterone in 2018 after seeking medical advice, and completed top surgery in Thailand in 2020.
Wu said he was extremely lucky to have his mother accompany him to Thailand and support him.
“After the surgery, I finally feel comfortable looking at myself in the mirror. I can stand straight, pull my shoulders back and wear any clothes without worrying about my body shape,” Wu said.
This article has been generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
