A transgender student has taken a Hong Kong school to court, alleging “discriminatory” policies requiring short hair in line with her sex assigned at birth.

Lawyers for Oscar Fung King-ho on Thursday sought unspecified damages from the incorporated management committee of Lung Kong World Federation School Limited, Lau Wong Fat Secondary School in Tai Kok Tsui.

They said she had faced “public humiliation and rebukes” from teachers over her hair length before leaving the school last year.

According to a District Court writ seen by the South China Morning Post on Monday, Fung began experiencing gender dysphoria at 14 and attempted to ease her discomfort by secretly wearing women’s clothing at home and embracing more feminine interests.

By 2021, she was publicly cosplaying female anime and manga characters and posting photos on social media, with schoolmates and some teachers aware of her activities.

The dispute began in September 2023, when a teacher warned that her hair touched her eyebrows, breaching the school’s hairstyle rules for boys. Fung ignored the warning and chose to grow her hair, saying longer hair reduced her anxiety.