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The current case before the grand chamber of the Supreme Court asks the justices to eliminate the outdated and abusive sterilization requirement.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

  • Tb0n3@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    To be more accurate then, the sex they were born with does not align with the sex they feel they are.

    Man, I really should stop using the word Gender since it’s all made up bullshit anyway.

    • osarusan@kbin.social
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      8 months ago

      In other words, you don’t understand the concept of gender, a basic and well-established sociological principle, and you’d rather just make ignorant and hurtful statements instead of learn about something unfamiliar and try to grow as a person.

      • Tb0n3@sh.itjust.works
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        8 months ago

        Gender has grown into a monster that means nothing now. It used to be synonymous with sex, and made sense as a word to help separate the two when they don’t align on rare occasions. Now everything is a fucking gender.

        • osarusan@kbin.social
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          8 months ago

          It used to be synonymous with sex

          It was never synonymous with sex. This just shows that you don’t understand the very fundamentals of what gender is.

          Now everything is a fucking gender.

          It only seems that way to you because you have a complete misunderstanding of what it is. Educate yourself. There’s tons of great youtube channels explaining what it is, and Wikipedia is great too. If you like I can recommend you a video.

          • Tb0n3@sh.itjust.works
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            8 months ago

            I do believe the original term was transsexual. If you haven’t heard about shit like deergender then I envy you.

            • osarusan@kbin.social
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              8 months 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@sh.itjust.works
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                8 months 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
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                  8 months 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?