Japan’s Supreme Court is not budging on the mistreatment of trans people.
According to Japan Today, the Supreme Court of Japan released a ruling on Thursday (January 24) stating the current law concerning transgender people needing to be sterilized will stay.
The No. 111 law from 2003 says that transgender citizens will need to be diagnosed with gender identity disorder. The person also has to be at least 20-years-old, unmarried, without any underage children, and not have a body that is “endowed with genitalia that closely resemble the physical form of an alternative gender.”
Related Post: French Alters Sterilization Policy For Transgender People (October 17, 2016)
After all of that, they then must be sterilized before they can change their gender on official records.
With the unanimous ruling, the court admitted that doubts were developing over the law, but stated that it remains constitutional. The original appeal was filed by Takakito Usui, a transgender man who wants to change his documents that currently identify him as a woman.
The four Supreme Court justices say that despite doubts, the measure was made to prevent “problems” with parent-child relations and society changes.
The court celebrated the community’s interest in having the law looked at as laws should be updated according to society’s and the family unit’s changing values.
That said, many LGBTQ advocates are expressing displeasure with the recent court ruling.
"In this day and age, I can't believe there is a law that requires people to have surgery," said Tomoyasu Oyama, Takakito’s lawyer, to AFP.
"We have been at this case for two years. And every month, every six months, we can see an improved understanding of the issue by society," Oyama said.
h/t: Japan Today
