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Japan Upholds Law Demanding Sterilization for Trans People

Takakito Usui

An opinion by the Supreme Court’s presiding judge infers things may change soon.

MikelleStreet

Japan's Supreme Court unanimously upheld a 2003 law requiring all transgender people to be sterilized prior to transitioning, Japan Today reports.

The two year trial was brought by Takakito Usui as he sought to transition. Law 111 requires anyone transitioning and wanting to have their official documents changed to reflect their gender, must follow specific rules. Of those guidelines, they must have no children under 20, be single, and undergo a psychiatric evaluation. They also cannot have reproductive glands or their reproductive glands must "have permanently lost function."

The law has been the subject of both national and international debate in Japan with supporters saying that it would prevent "problems" and "confusion" not only in society at large but also between parents and their children. Critics have labeled the forced or coerced sterilization invasive and discriminatory.

The Supreme Court's support of Law 11 came with caveats. Judges also released opinions that the mandate was invasive and should be reviewed regularly. While ruling it constitutional, presiding judge Mamoru Miura said that "doubts are undeniably emerging" surrounding the law, inferring that change was imminent.

Suki Chung, of Amnesty International still called the ruling "a blow for the recognition of transgender people in Japan," in a statement to media, News Skill reports. "It is a missed opportunity to address the discrimination transgender people face."

There is hope that this ruling, and the added debate it brought about, will help to spur change.

"It is unthinkable in this day and time that the law requires a sex-change operation to change gender," Usui's lawyer Tomoyasu Oyama said. "When the law was established 15 years ago, LGBT people had to make a bitter decision and swallow the conditions to pave a narrow way for official change of gender. With this decision, I hope lawmakers will change the law to support the wishes of the LGBT community."

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Mikelle Street

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.