Singapore-born and Taiwan-raised, Julian did not spend much time in Hong Kong until it was time to attend university. As a transman, Julian realises that Hong Kong is a place with very traditional values that are not so LGBTQI+ friendly, but Julian wants to change that for the better. He has worked at the Transgender Resource Center in Hong Kong and interacted with the local transgender community during the beginning of his own transition.

Julian is aware that transgender individuals face both self-criticism and negativity from others. Personally, Julian reached a low point in college because of years of self-denial and identity suppression caused by trying to follow his family’s expectations. He wants to bring hope to people going through similar hardship by teaching them that only they have autonomy over their body, and proving that you can balance your true self with your family’s expectations and set healthy boundaries.

He hopes he will be able to further merge his professional work and social justice work halves together. Julian is currently in the process of creating a queer-friendly brand and is the main moderator on r/TransHongKong on Reddit, and hosts a Discord server with the same name. He hopes to be able to create supportive online spaces in which individuals who are questioning their gender identity can have somewhere to go to discuss their areas of concern, as well as the cultural diaspora they might be facing while transitioning to become more of themselves in Hong Kong.

The issue of gender-based violence (GBV) is important to Julian because transgender people are disproportionately affected by GBV. In the future, Julian hopes to share more about being a transgender person in Asia. In particular, Julian wants to use his work experience to help bridge the gap between transgender individuals and their family, so they can feel less alone. Julian would also like to continue pursuing advocacy work because he wants to help plant positive seeds of change in the community for a more inclusive, safer future for everyone in Hong Kong. 

In Julian’s spare time, he likes to draw and spend time with his pets and enjoys moments with those closest to him.