Japan Court Cancels Sterilisation Surgery Rule For Gender Change

Japan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a law requiring transgender people to undergo sterilisation surgery in order to officially change their gender is unconstitutional.

The decision by the top court’s 15-judge Grand Bench was its first on the constitutionality of Japan’s 2003 law requiring the removal of sex organs for a state-recognised gender change, a practice long criticised by international rights and medical groups.

The decision, which requires the government to reconsider the law, is a first step toward allowing transgender people to change their identity in official documents without getting sterilised. But it was not a full victory because the Supreme Court sent the case back to the high court to further examine the requirement for gender-affirmation surgery.