November 26, 2019

Important Notice Regarding the 2020 WPATH Symposium

The WPATH Board of Directors and Symposium Steering Committee have been closely following the recent protests and related unrest currently taking place in Hong Kong. Although the WPATH Symposium is still 12 months away, concerns have surfaced surrounding the feasibility of hosting the symposium in Hong Kong.

The selection of Hong Kong as the meeting site was the result of months of planning and strategically partnering with local organizations and leaders on the ground to fully evaluate the educational value that WPATH could bring to the local communities, while providing a memorable and safe setting for our participants. It is with sadness that we learn about the current unrest taking place in Hong Kong, prompting our concerns over safety. We continue to work closely and remain in constant communication with the local trans organizations both in Hong Kong and neighboring countries to lend support to the best of our capacity and will continue to do so.

At this point the leadership of WPATH is considering all legal and financial options while keeping a close eye on the current situation. Although we are hopeful our Symposium can still move forward as planned, we must caution prospective attendees against purchasing airline tickets until further notice, in the event that we need to change venues.

We are hopeful that the situation will resolve itself peacefully and positively for all Hong Kong residents and we ask for all of you to extend and lend support of the situation to those on the ground in Hong Kong who will benefit should the WPATH Symposium be held there as planned.

We do plan to open registration as scheduled in late January if Hong Kong remains a suitable location to hold our Symposium. If our leadership decides to change the location, we will provide further communication. For updates regarding the Symposium, please visit the WPATH official website – www.wpath.org.

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