The Japanese Supreme Court has declared it unconstitutional to mandate genitalia removal for gender transition on administrative documents. It is a significant decision for LGBTQ+ rights in Japan, a rather conservative democracy where same-sex marriage is still prohibited.
On October 25, the Japanese Supreme Court ruled that the law requiring gender reassignment surgery within a legal framework was unconstitutional.
The 15 judges voted unanimously against the constitutionality of the law. In their view, the requirement of surgery for people wishing to change their sex, often against their will, clearly violates the Constitution by interfering with their fundamental right to pursue their own happiness.
As the Supreme Court does not have the final say on this matter, discussions have been initiated with the government on the constitutionality of requiring sterilization for gender change on official registers.
In Japan, to change gender legally, it is compulsory to undergo surgery leading to sterilization of the genitals. Concomitantly, the person must also be considered with a gender dysphoria by health professionals.
This law has been in effect since 2004, leading to more than 12,000 individuals undergoing surgery to change their gender and update their civil status accordingly.
This decision is part of broader efforts to ease the criteria for gender reassignment. In recent years, the Japanese government has been working for a more open and inclusive society for the LGBTQ+ community in Japan despite the ban on same-sex marriage.
Kazuyuki Minami, the person who filed the complaint, identifies as a transsexual woman and wants to record “woman” in her family registry.
In a statement reported by one of her lawyers, she was positively surprised at the court’s decision while also expressing disappointment regarding the legal process’s delay.
Kanae Doi, director of Human Rights Watch’s Japan office, was interviewed by Reuters. She sees the decision as a positive omen for future improvements. She adds that the government must follow the Supreme Court’s decision and amend the law. She affirms that “it’s late, but never too late.”
More conservative newspapers like the Yomiuri Shimbun are less optimistic about the court’s decision. They argue that gender is objectively determined by physiological characteristics and that “if individuals can decide to change their gender, the social order may be undermined.”
