Slow but Steady Progress for Transgender Individuals in Japan

Support in Japan for the progressive LGBTQ+ court case ruling. Photo: CNN/Tomohiro Ohsumi

In a landmark case, Japan’s supreme court unanimously ruled that a 20-year-old law requiring transgender individuals to be sterilized was unconstitutional. The law originally stated that to legally change one’s gender, individuals must be diagnosed with “gender identity disorder,” be unmarried and over the age of 18, have no children under 18, have genital organs resembling their desired gender, and have no reproductive capacity. The plaintiff, who is identified as a 50-year-old transgender woman, claimed that this law requires a procedure that would impose a physical and economic burden on her and deprive her of constitutional rights to pursue happiness free from discrimination. Additionally, she argued that after years of hormone therapy, her reproductive capacity was already impacted and thus sterilization was redundant. 

The court declared that the law was in violation of the constitution, and that “the restriction of freedom from bodily harm under this provision has become increasingly unnecessary at this point and the degree of the restriction has become more serious. Therefore, the provision in question is not necessary and reasonable.” Furthermore, it recognized reproductive rights to be fundamental human rights, thus finding that  sterilization violated wider international norms beyond the Japanese constitution. While this ruling was a promising step for a conservative country regarding LGBTQ+ rights, many are calling it a “half-ruling” as the court refused to rule on the requirement to have genital organs resembling the sex one is transitioning to. 

This case follows several years of LGBTQ+ progress in Asia. South Korea had a comparable law enacted in 2011 that included discriminatory guidelines, such as not having children under 19 and being at least 19 years old themselves, being unmarried, being diagnosed with “transsexualism,” having undergone hormone therapy, and being sterilized. The 2022 case in South Korea similarly only addressed part of the issue, declaring that having children of minor age is not a legal reason to deny a gender change. Likewise, a Hong Kong court case in early 2023 overturned the requirement for transgender men to undergo full sex reassignment surgery to change their legal gender, stating it is unconstitutional under the Bill of Rights. All three of these cases are part of the movement against traditionalism and allowing more freedom, individual rights, and equality.

There is slow progress for LGBTQ+ equality in Japan. Photo: Alessandro Di Ciommo

Nevertheless, there is still much work to be done in East Asia as mainland China, South Korea, and Japan all require trans people to undergo reassignment surgery to have their gender identity recognised, among other conditions. The Japanese government specifically was under pressure to pass a law promoting understanding of the LGBTQ+ community before it hosted the G7 meeting in May 2023, as it is the only country in the coalition to not recognize gay marriage. However, due to long-held conservative views, it was only brought to  legislation a day before the summit and ended as a very watered-down version of the original. 

Despite the long road ahead, this decision is proof of progress, albeit very slow. The cultural shifts in Japan, as well as wider East Asia, are trending toward more equality and acceptance of different sexual orientations and gender identities. Regarding this decision, Human Rights Watch stated that the “judgment is a major step toward upholding the rights to health, privacy, and bodily autonomy of trans people in Japan. It will also resonate regionally and globally as governments increasingly recognize that the process for legal recognition of trans people needs to be separate from any medical interventions.”