Court in Japan allows trans woman to officially change gender without compulsory surgery

A Japanese high court has approved a legal gender change for a transgender woman without requiring compulsory gender-affirming surgery.

A Japanese high court has approved a legal gender change for a transgender woman without requiring compulsory gender-affirming surgery, a step that LGBTQ groups on Thursday called a mixed victory.

Under the law, transgender people who want to have their gender assigned at birth changed on official documents must be diagnosed as having gender dysmorphia and must undergo an operation to remove their sex organs.

The Hiroshima High Court ruled Wednesday that the current requirement is possibly unconstitutional, signaling a change in how gender issues are being addressed in Japan.

The claimant, only identified as a resident of western Japan in her late 40s, was assigned male at birth. Her request for a legal gender change in her documents was rejected by lower courts. She has argued through her lawyers that the surgery requirement forces a huge economic and physical burden and that it violates the constitution’s protection of equal rights.

The Supreme Court, in a landmark decision in October, ruled that the sterilization requirement is unconstitutional but sent the transgender woman’s case back to the High Court, ordering it to reexamine if the claimant can avoid a gender-affirming surgery, something it failed to address in its earlier ruling.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/japan-court-transgender-gender-change-surgery-rcna161533

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