Quarks Co-Founder Liam Mak On Advocating For Trans Youth In Hong Kong

Meet Liam Mak — the trans advocate who co-founded Quarks, Hong Kong’s first support network for transgender youth.

Two steps forward, one step back. This is the perpetual dance queer people face in their fight for equality, even during the celebratory period that Pride Month is supposed to represent. In Hong Kong, transgender youth know this rhythm all too well — navigating schools that enforce gendered uniforms, hospitals that deny them care and a society that often dismisses their identities as “just a phase.”

Against these odds, 23-year-old Liam Mak has built what didn’t exist for his younger self: Quarks, Hong Kong’s first and only registered organisation serving transgender and gender-diverse youth. What began in 2018 as a desperate Instagram search for peers has grown into a 500-member strong community that’s reshaping healthcare policies, publishing groundbreaking anthologies and, most importantly, saving lives. Speaking with Sassy, Mak traces Quarks’ journey from a WhatsApp group to a force transforming Hong Kong’s landscape for trans youth.

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For readers unfamiliar, what is Quarks and why was it needed in Hong Kong?

Quarks (跨青時刻) is Hong Kong’s first and only registered organisation dedicated to transgender and gender-diverse youth. When we started in 2018, there was zero support for trans teens. Most services targeted adults (I remember joining a transgender support group in Secondary 3, only to find that everyone else was in their 30s to 50s), leaving young people like my 15-year-old self to navigate gender identity alone. While others were discussing marriage issues and surgeries, I just needed help getting my school to let me wear the boys’ uniform.

The medical system was equally inaccessible — at the time, no public clinics provided hormone therapy to minors, so we had to rely on fragmented advice from peers or online communities. Quarks is based on those first-hand experiences. We’re by youth, for youth, focusing on what young people truly need: peer support, help navigating school policies and a safe space. One statistic from our surveys show 72% of trans youth contemplated suicide before finding community support, demonstrating how desperately Quarks was needed.

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Your personal journey is clearly connected to Quarks’ founding. When did you first realise your identity?

I knew I was different since kindergarten, questioning why I had to stand in the girls’ line, wear a dress as a uniform and why I couldn’t use the boys’ bathroom. By Primary 6, I was secretly binding my chest with bandages because the dysphoria was unbearable. At age 13, I discovered the term “transgender” through online research. It was a relief to finally have a word to describe what I felt, but also frustrating as there were no local resources to help me. Even when I tried to join existing transgender support groups, they rejected me because I was “too young to really know.” That isolation stayed with me and directly inspired Quarks’ youth-focused approach.

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How did you begin connecting with other trans youth before Quarks existed?

I turned to Instagram in 2015, searching hashtags like #HKTrans, #跨仔 (trans boy) and #香港跨仔 (Hong Kong trans boy). Whenever I found someone who seemed like they might be a trans teen, I’d nervously send them a message and, slowly, a network began to form.

These early connections were lifesaving. We’d share tips on everything from hiding binders from parents to finding trans-friendly doctors. By 2017, I had created a WhatsApp group with about 60 members. Our first in-person gathering was in 2019, in a small studio owned by a non-binary friend. Seeing 20 trans youth together in one room — many meeting another trans person for the first time — was unforgettable.

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What made you take the step from informal group to registered organisation?

The turning point came in 2018, when I joined a transgender youth project led by Professor Diana Kwok, a social worker and advocate at the Education University of Hong Kong. Through the project, I met Ming Chan, a doctor who would become one of Quarks’ co-founders. Around the same time, I attended a gathering hosted by Kaspar Wan, founder of Gender Empowerment, where I met Zephyrus Tsang, another doctor and Quarks’ third co-founder.

When the three of us began discussing the gaps in transgender youth support, we decided to team up and create an official advocacy network. Ming and Zephyrus’s medical backgrounds gave us credibility, while my experience building the community grounded our work in real needs. The registration process took eight gruelling months — the Society Ordinance office kept rejecting our applications, skeptical that young people could run an organisation. At one point, our submission documents stacked nearly 8cm thick. When we finally received approval in November 2020, it validated everything we’d fought for.

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Why the name “Quarks,” and what does the astronaut logo symbolise?

The name “Quarks” (跨青時刻) was suggested by Ming. It translates to “the time of trans youth” in Chinese and plays on the word “quarks” in physics — tiny particles that are incredibly powerful when they stick together. As for the astronaut logo, it symbolises freedom and exploration. Gender isn’t binary; it’s a universe to explore. The logo has since become a symbol of pride for trans youth in Hong Kong. Even the term “跨青” (trans youth) was popularised by us.

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What has Quarks’ impact been like on Hong Kong’s transgender youth community? What are some initiatives that you’re most proud of?

We’ve grown from that original WhatsApp group to over 500 members across multiple platforms. Beyond community building, we’ve also made systemic changes. For example, we successfully pressured Prince of Wales Hospital to rename its Gender Identity Disorder Clinic, removing the outdated and harmful term “disorder.” We’ve also exposed gaps in public healthcare, like the lack of staff training for administering testosterone injections, and we track wait times for gender-affirming care.

One of our proudest achievements is the anthology 《明心見性：跨青文集》 (“Trans Youth Collectives”), the first trans-authored literary work in Hong Kong. It includes poems, essays and stories from trans youth, showcasing the diversity of our community. I contributed three poems, but what matters most is how it highlights that trans life isn’t just about struggle — there’s also so much joy, love and humour.

Another highlight was the HerFund-supported project “A Better Me — The Glam-Up of Trans Women” (羽化成蝶：跨女的閃耀蜕變), through which we provided 10 trans women with professional makeup lessons, styling sessions and photoshoots. For many, it was their first time feeling beautiful in their own skin.

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How does Quarks navigate Hong Kong’s conservatism, and what misconceptions do you most struggle with?

One major misconception is that being transgender is a phase or a Western import. School administrators and doctors often claim teens are “too young to know.” Another common myth is that being trans is solely about surgery, which oversimplifies the diverse experiences of trans people. We counter these misconceptions through education. We host workshops at universities like CUHK and HKU, provide corporate training for companies like HSBC and Cathay Pacific and share accurate information through our social media, podcast and media appearances. For example, our Cantonese podcast explains gender dysphoria and the broader trans experience, helping shift outdated terms like “sex change surgery” to proper ones like “gender-affirming care.”

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Looking ahead, what’s next for Quarks?

While we’re proud of how far Hong Kong has come, there’s much work ahead. Trans youth under 18 still can’t access hormone therapy through public hospitals without parental consent, which remains a major barrier. So, we’re pushing for legal gender recognition reform and improved healthcare access for minors. But our core mission remains unchanged: ensuring no trans youth has to face their journey alone, like I did. As our name suggests, we’re tiny particles — but together, we’re unstoppable.

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