TOKYO, Japan. Japan’s Supreme Court has ruled that a law requiring transgender individuals to undergo sterilization surgery in order to officially change their gender is unconstitutional, a landmark decision hailed by advocates as a sign of increasing acceptance of LGBTQ+ rights.
The ruling specifically addresses the sterilization requirement of the 2003 law, not the broader issue of gender-transition surgery. The law had forced transgender individuals into a “cruel choice between accepting sterilization surgery that invades their bodies and forfeiting essential legal benefits tied to their gender identity,” according to the Supreme Court.
This decision is a critical first step toward allowing transgender people in Japan to change their gender on official documents without undergoing sterilization surgery. However, it was not a complete victory for the claimant, as the Supreme Court sent her case back to the high court to further examine the requirement for gender-affirmation surgery.
The claimant, a transgender woman in her late 40s living in western Japan, sought to change her gender on official documents but was denied by lower courts in 2020.
This ruling comes during a time of heightened awareness of LGBTQ+ issues in Japan and represents a partial victory for the LGBTQ+ community. The judges unanimously ruled that the law’s sterilization requirement is unconstitutional, although they did not find the gender-affirmation surgery requirement unconstitutional, which disappointed the claimant’s lawyers.
Under the law, transgender individuals seeking to change their gender on official documents must be diagnosed with gender dysphoria, undergo sterilization surgery, and meet additional requirements, such as being unmarried and not having children under 18.
Japan’s Human Rights Watch director, Kanae Doi, welcomed the decision and emphasized that the government must now amend the law to remove the sterilization and gender-affirmation surgery requirements. She stressed that any non-consensual body invasion is a human rights violation.
Japan has been slow to enact LGBTQ+ rights legislation and remains the only G7 member that does not permit same-sex marriage or have an effective anti-discrimination law. LGBTQ+ activists have been pushing for changes, particularly after a former aide to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made disparaging comments about LGBTQ+ individuals.
This decision follows a recent local family court ruling that accepted a claimant’s request for a gender change without the required surgery, declaring the rule unconstitutional. The 2004 special law in Japan requires individuals to have their original sex organs removed and possess physical characteristics that match the new gender they wish to register.
In contrast, many European and Central Asian countries with gender change laws do not require sterilization or gender-affirmation surgery. Japan’s Supreme Court, while recognizing the constitutional nature of the law in a previous case, noted that it could become out of step with evolving social values and should be reviewed.
This development is seen as a significant step forward in the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance in Japan.
Paraluman P. Funtanilla
Paraluman P. Funtanilla is Tutubi News Magazine's Marketing Specialist and is a Contributing Editor. She finished her degree in Communication Arts in De La Salle Lipa. She has worked as a Digital Marketer for start-up businesses and small business spaces for the past two years. She has earned certificates from Coursera on Brand Management: Aligning Business Brand and Behavior and Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content. She also worked with Asia Express Romania TV Show.
