Video | Transgender lecturer in Hong Kong on her fight to be accepted by a conservative society, and her fear of the police
As the city’s High Court debates the rights of three transgender men, HKU lecturer Brenda Alegre opens up about growing up trans – and Catholic – in the Philippines, and why she always feels like an outsider in Hong Kong
Superheroes have played vital roles in shaping the identity of university lecturer Brenda Alegre.
“When I was a five-year-old growing up in the Philippines, I wanted to be Lynda Carter from the American TV show Wonder Woman. She made me realise my gender. But Christopher Reeve as Superman, well he was my first crush,” says Alegre, as she settles onto a bench at the Hong Kong University (HKU) campus in Pok Fu Lam.
Three transgender men challenge Hong Kong policy requiring full sex change before they are legally considered male
Alegre is a trans woman who was born and raised in Manila. She moved to Hong Kong in 2011 to teach the popular and groundbreaking course Sexuality and Gender: Diversity and Society that was introduced to the HKU curriculum that same year.
Trans refers to someone whose gender differs from the one they were born with, identifying as male or female or finding that neither label fits. Born male, Alegre has identified as a female for as long as she can remember.
“I never questioned gender growing up. I just thought I was like other girls. Kids would ask why I sat when I peed when I had a ‘bird’ – we called male genitalia bird. I’d say it’s for peeing only – I’m a girl. Kids didn’t question that.”
Sadly, she says, adults aren’t so accepting. Nor is the church.
