Small Luk

Small Ela Luk
Intersex person
Born Luk yiu-hung
1966
Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Residence Chinese
Nationality Chinese
Education Chinese University of Hong Kong
Known for intersex activist and Chinese medicine doctor
Website www.smallhypnotherapy.com

Small Luk, formerly named Luk yiu-hung, is the first intersexual person who openly admitted her gender preference in Hong Kong.[1] She was born an hermaphrodite, meaning she had both male and female sex organs . Small lived as a male for 36 years until having a sex change operation, and now lives as a woman.[2] Related to her personal experience, she founded the organization “Beyond Boundaries – Knowing and Concerns Intersex”[3] in 2011, which is concerned with and strives for the right of intersexuals.

Background

Small was the first child of Luk’s family. When Small was born, the doctor found that Small was neither male nor female (Intersex), even though there were organs resembling testicles and a penis in Small’s body. Thus, Small was deemed male by his family and the doctor. He underwent more than 20 operations between the ages of 8 and 13 to construct a urethra – the duct that conducts urine from the bladder. When he was 12, the surgery failed. Small found the surgery too unbearable and attempted suicide several times. According to news records[4], he was the only surviving person among the seven people who were operated on as children at Hong Kong’s Kwong Wah Hospital in the 1970s to correct their anatomies. After the last operation at the age of 13, he refused to put himself under the knife anymore to have his genitalia reconstructed.

During adolescent, Small developed breasts, suffered stomach cramps and saw blood in his urine. He was suffering from androgen insensitivity syndrome - resistance to male hormones. Eventually, he was found to have undeveloped female sex organs and was classified an hermaphrodite. Doctors explained that his body did not respond to androgen, and his brain continued to signal for increased production of the hormones – raising his chances of getting testicular cancer to six times the norm. Acting on doctor’s advice, he eventually underwent surgery to remove his male genitalia again, and began treatment with female hormones, and after a successful operation, now lives as a woman.[5][6]

Apart from the surgical pain, Small also suffered from bullying. According to Small, there was relatively less understanding about intersex people in the 1960s-1970s. He was at the receiving end of discrimination from classmates and teachers. 40 years ago, there were no cubicles in boy’s toilets so others could see how Small pee with his hypoplastic sex organ. They harassed him, pulled down his pants and hit him after school. [7]

Education

Despite the past, Small has managed to complete her education, earn degrees in social work and traditional Chinese medicine, as well as a master’s in gender studies at Chinese University of Hong Kong. She now runs a holistic treatment clinic in Hong Kong.[8]

Contribution to society

Small Luk founded the organization -- “Beyond Borders-- knowing and concerns intersex” [9][10] in 2011, and it has been working to spread awareness about intersex people. The aims of the organization are to raise public awareness about intersex people and pushing for the rights of intersexuals, including forced genital normalising surgery and conversion therapies. Small urges the Hong Kong government to educate the public about intersexual conditions, extend anti-discrimination laws to cover intersexuals and stop foisting surgery on intersexual children without consulting them.[11] Small has been invited to various international and local events[12][13], including the United Nations meeting in Thailand [14][15], to speak on the issue of intersex people and their rights. [16][17]

References

  1. ↑ {{http://intersexday.org/en/beyond-boundaries-intersex-hk-china/ }}
  2. ↑ http://www.timeout.com.hk/gay-lesbian/features/72091/interview-we-talk-to-intersex-individual-dr-small-luk-about-her-gender-struggles.html
  3. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/concerns.IS
  4. ↑ http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1905393/no-child-should-endure-my-ordeal-says-sex-disorder-hongkonger-forced-be
  5. ↑ http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1905393/no-child-should-endure-my-ordeal-says-sex-disorder-hongkonger-forced-be
  6. ↑ https://thestandnews.com/lgbtq/%E9%86%AB%E7%94%9F%E8%AA%AA%E6%98%AF%E9%99%B0%E8%8E%96-%E5%85%B6%E5%AF%A6%E6%98%AF%E4%B8%80%E6%A2%9D%E8%82%89-%E5%B0%88%E8%A8%AA%E9%9B%99%E6%80%A7%E4%BA%BA-%E7%B4%B0%E7%B4%B0%E8%80%81%E5%B8%AB/
  7. ↑ http://www.timeout.com.hk/gay-lesbian/features/72091/interview-we-talk-to-intersex-individual-dr-small-luk-about-her-gender-struggles.html
  8. ↑ http://gdottv.com/main/archives/1964
  9. ↑ http://intersexday.org/en/beyond-boundaries-intersex-hk-china/
  10. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/concerns.IS
  11. ↑ http://www.passiontimes.hk/article/11-24-2015/27065
  12. ↑ http://www.oii.tw/Home/intersex-hk/20130520_hk-gong-min-quan-li-ji-zheng-zhi-quan-li-guo-ji-gong-yue-hui-yi-guan-ai-shuang-xing-ren-zu-zhi-fa-yan
  13. ↑ http://www.oii.tw/Home/intersex-hk
  14. ↑ http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1905393/no-child-should-endure-my-ordeal-says-sex-disorder-hongkonger-forced-be
  15. ↑ http://news.mingpao.com/pns/dailynews/web_tc/article/20151116/s00002/1447610164562
  16. ↑ http://intersexday.org/en/beyond-boundaries-intersex-hk-china/
  17. ↑ http://www.freecomchurch.org/sermon/concerns-of-the-intersex-small-luk/

External links

Facebook of Small Luk:

Facebook of the organization:

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