LGBTQ+ hopes high in Japan as top court to rule on trans surgery law
An unprecedented ruling by a Japanese court this month is buoying hopes in the transgender community that a national law requiring sterilisation for official gender changes could be struck down by the Supreme Court this week.
Japan, the only Group of Seven nation that does not legally recognise same-sex unions, also forces anyone wanting to officially change their gender to have surgery to remove the sexual organs they were born with – a practice Human Rights Watch criticised as “outdated and abusive”.
But on 12 October, a family court found in favour of Gen Suzuki, a trans man who filed suit demanding to be officially listed as male without surgery, ruling the requirement unconstitutional. “Trans people like me now have a choice,” Suzuki told a news conference at the time. “We want to choose what happens to our bodies ourselves.” The ruling, the first such by any Japanese court, came as the country’s Supreme Court is considering a similar case brought by a trans woman.
A decision is expected on Wednesday and could result in the requirement for surgery being revoked. “This ruling is good. It shows that awareness that requiring surgery is a human rights violation has spread throughout society,” Masataka Masaki, a trans man and representative of activist group ESTO, told Openly. “I believe this may influence the Supreme Court, but it depends on the judges.” Invisibility While gay sex has been legal in Japan since 1880, social attitudes mean many in the LGBTQIA+ community have long opted for invisibility – even some bar owners in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ni-chome gay district are not out to their families.
