Japan's top court rules against law requiring sterilization surgery to officially change gender

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

Japan's Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a law requiring transgender people to undergo sterilization 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-recognized gender change, a practice long criticized 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 sterilized.

The judges unanimously ruled that the part of the law requiring sterilization for a gender change is unconstitutional, according to the court document and the claimant's lawyers. But the top court ordered the case to be sent back to the high court for further review of the requirement for gender-affirmation surgery — a decision the claimant's lawyers said was regrettable because it delays the settlement of the issue.