Japan's Supreme Court rules that forcing people to undergo sterilization for gender reassignment is illegal

Amnesty International said gender-affirming surgery in Japan should be a “fast, accessible and transparent administrative process.” Photo: YUICHI YAMAZAKI/AFP/Getty Images

Japan's Supreme Court has ruled that a law requiring transgender people to undergo sterilization surgery to officially change their gender is «cruel» and unconstitutional.

A 2003 law requiring Removing genitals to achieve state-recognized gender reassignment has long been criticized by international human rights and medical groups as discriminatory, as well as invasive and dangerous to health.

On Wednesday, the court ruled, a large panel of 15 judges agreed, ruling against the “stark choice” between “accepting sterilization surgery that requires an intense level of bodily intrusion” and “giving up the important legal benefits of treating them according to their gender identity.” «

However, the decision was not a complete legal victory for those seeking gender reassignment, as the Supreme Court sent the case back to a lower court to consider the request for gender confirmation surgery.

Several other conditions for official recognition of gender reassignment still apply, including being unmarried, having no children and being diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

Amnesty International called the decision «a landmark decision for transgender rights in Japan», adding that it was another «encouraging sign that countries in the region are re-evaluating discriminatory practices or laws affecting LGBTI people.»

Hong Kong this week ruled in favor of equal inheritance rights for same-sex couples, and in May Taiwan passed a law that gave same-sex partners the right to jointly adopt a child to whom neither is related, in one of the latest rulings. steps towards achieving full marriage equality.

But Boram Jang, Amnesty East Asia researcher, said that while the decision was an important step forward, the fight for LGBT rights in Japan remains an uphill battle.

“Amnesty International continues to call on Japanese authorities to ensure that legal gender recognition is not conditional on a psychiatric diagnosis, medical treatment such as gender confirmation surgery, or other offensive or discriminatory requirements such as not being married or not having children,” she said.

< p>“This should be a fast, accessible and transparent administrative process based on individual self-determination.”

Wednesday's case was brought by a transgender woman who wanted to challenge the refusal to list her as a woman without surgery.

She filed the lawsuit in 2020 after lower courts rejected her request to change the gender on her family registry to female from male assigned at birth.

“A serious violation of human rights”

The complainant, who appeared to be a resident of western Japan in her forties, called the forced sterilization a «serious violation of human rights and unconstitutional,» noting that it creates a huge economic and physical burden on people.

< p>Kazuyuki Minami, her lawyer , told reporters that «the Supreme Court rarely finds a law unconstitutional.»

But he added that it is «sad» that his client «will have to find the law unconstitutional.» «live tomorrow and continue to maintain your gender, not recognized by law,» as further consideration in the lower court will delay the final settlement of the issue.

The decision comes at a time when the rights of the LGBT community are becoming increasingly visible in traditionally conservative Japan, which remains the only G7 member that does not allow same-sex marriage or legal protections, including an effective anti-discrimination law.

In July, Japan's Supreme Court ruled in favor of a transgender bureaucrat who had sued government over access to women's restrooms at work, and public opinion polls have shown growing support for LGBT-friendly laws, especially among younger generations.