Surgery Requirement Held to be Unconstitutional


A Japanese family court has ruled that the country’s requirement that transgender people be surgically sterilized to change their legal gender is unconstitutional. The ruling is the first of its kind in Japan, and comes as the Supreme Court considers a separate case about the same issue.

In 2021, Gen Suzuki, a transgender man, filed a court request to have his legal gender recognized as male without undergoing sterilization surgery as prescribed by national law. This week the Shizuoka Family Court ruled in his favor, with the judge writing: “Surgery to remove the gonads has the serious and irreversible result of loss of reproductive function. I cannot help but question whether being forced to undergo such treatment lacks necessity or rationality, considering the level of social chaos it may cause and from a medical perspective.”

In Japan, transgender people who want to legally change their gender must appeal to a family court. Under the Gender Identity Disorder (GID) Special Cases Act, applicants must undergo a psychiatric evaluation and be surgically sterilized. They also must be single and without children younger than 18.

Momentum is growing in Japan to change the law, as legal, medical, and academic professionals are speaking out against it. United Nations experts and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health have both urged Japan to eliminate the law’s discriminatory elements and to treat trans people, as well as their families, the same as other citizens.

In 2019, Japan’s Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that stated the law did not violate Japan’s constitution. However, two of the justices recognized the need for reform. “The suffering that [transgender people] face in terms of gender is also of concern to society that is supposed to embrace diversity in gender identity,” they wrote. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a trans government employee using the restrooms in accordance with her gender identity. Her employer had barred her from using the women’s restrooms on her office floor because she had not undergone the surgical procedures and therefore had not changed her legal gender.

The current case before the grand chamber of the Supreme Court asks the justices to eliminate the outdated and abusive sterilization requirement.

link: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/16/japan-court-rules-against-mandatory-transgender-sterilization

archive link: https://archive.ph/4IRKj

  • osarusan@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Transsexual was coined in 1949 and transgender in 1965. They are separate words with separate meanings in a field of study that began over 130 years ago. I strongly suggest you browse Wikipedia and reputable Youtube channels to fill in the gaps in your knowledge.

    • Tb0n3
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Wikipedia changes all the time. Just because Wikipedia says it doesn’t mean that’s how it should be. Transsexual and transgender are the same thing. One has just been co-opted to mean anything they want. Just go and read the pronouns Wiki if you don’t believe me.

      • osarusan@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        You just repeated the exact same lies. This is how I know you’re a troll. Rather than put any ounce of effort into discussion, you’re doing the equivalent of plugging your ears and stamping your feet. Why even bother talking to you if you’re going to be this dishonest?