Hello Humans!
As many of you already know, November 13-19 is Transgender Awareness Week—an annual time for transgender communities and allies around the world to spread awareness and educate the public on anything transgender and gender non-confirming. The week culminates on November 20 with the Transgender Day of Remembrance to honour and remember victims of transphobic violence.
It’s no secret that I’ve received lots of support about my own transition journey, but the reality for other transgender & non-binary individuals in Hong Kong is more gloomy to say the very least. As a strong advocate of “awkward conversations” (hint hint), I strongly believe in the power of personal narratives, sharing ideas openly and enabling constructive dialogs to carve a better path for everyone’s inclusion in society.
That’s why this week, I’m announcing the launch of Beyond Binary, an exciting new initiative aimed at generating these discussions on gender identity and inclusion.
What is Beyond Binary?
Workplace inclusion is the top issue I’m focusing on. With Beyond Binary, I hope to bring together members of the transgender & non-binary community, allies and curious individuals to share ideas on the challenges of transgender & non-binary inclusion. With four events planned for 2025—some open to everyone, others to self-identified community members only—Beyond Binary is above all a safe and interactive space that strives to advance diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I).
To help companies take the right approach to inclusion, I’m partnering with corporate sponsors and professors from gender studies and business departments to put together white papers based on the feedback produced from the events. Powerful personal narratives can be effective at turning heads but to make a convincing business case for meaningful inclusion action, we also need evidence-based case studies!
Why Beyond Binary?
To me, inclusion is a notion that challenges and pushes the boundaries of our pre-existing biases—there is always room for more; more improvement but also more participants!
That’s why community allies are welcome to join the discourse—in fact, I believe that allies are the make-or-break of any change you want to make. Allies are most often the ones with access to policy changes in organisations; they are the ones that may have more impact among their peers when speaking up for the community. Though I don’t expect everyone to have all the knowledge about what’s best to do, I do hope that by opening some events to allies, their participation and time spent interacting with the community would influence their sense of empathy and perhaps encourage them to spread it with others.
Going beyond also means reaching into other intersectional issues faced by the transgender community. There is a known high correlation between being transgender and having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for instance. There may also be certain challenges faced by transgender individuals that non-binary individuals also encounter, such as those around body image or mental health. On top of all this, there is a general lack of public awareness that further adds to harmful misconceptions. My view is that all the challenges faced by all groups—all the barriers to opportunities—blend into what I refer to as “intersectionality.” Inclusion, at its core, needs to be intersectional.
Being from Hong Kong, my home is also immensely important to me. So few resources for transgender & non-binary individuals are available in Cantonese and so little information about how to be inclusive reaches the consciousness of local organisations. There is a disconnect between what’s available for English speakers compared to Cantonese speakers and I hope that Beyond Binary could act as a bridge to connect resources. Facilitators to group discussions will be briefed on intersectional considerations as well as inclusive terms to use in Cantonese.
Stay tuned for further details and updates about Beyond Binary! In the meantime, register your interest at https://www.emeryfung.com/beyondbinary
Emery Fung is the founder of Awkward Conversations, a Hong Kong DE&I consultancy. Tapping into his professional and lived experiences as a trans man, he helps businesses in the city create all-encompassing and bespoke strategies to foster more inclusive workplaces in the city.
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