Should transgender people be sterilised before they are recognised?
people be sterilised before they are recognised? Earlier this year Japan’s Supreme Court decided that the answer is yes. Takakito Usui, a transgender man , had sued over a requirement that, to be officially designated a man, he has to have his ovaries and uterus removed . He argued that all this violated his right to self-determination and was therefore unconstitutional. The court disagreed.
Human-rights groups say demanding irreversible surgery is outrageous. Although several Asian countries, including South Korea, have similar laws, Western countries that once also used to require sterilisation, such as Norway, France and Sweden, no longer do. In 2017 the European Court of Human Rights called for the change in all 47 countries under its jurisdiction. Sweden has started to compensate transgender people who underwent mandatory sterilisation.
Japanese courts often seem more concerned with maintaining social harmony than defending individual rights. In its ruling, the court said that the law was intended to avoid “confusion” and “abrupt change” to society. Yukari Ishii, a researcher at Toyo University in Tokyo, says that whereas in America and Europe long campaigns for gay rights paved the way for transgender people to call for more equitable treatment, Japan is further behind.
Change is coming, however. The court in Mr Usui’s case did acknowledge that the law may need to evolve as society does. Polls suggest that Japan is becoming more liberal on many social issues. Over 70% of respondents to a survey in January said they were in favour of stronger legal protections for gay or transgender people. Almost no Japanese ground their objections to such rights in religion, as people often do in other countries.
In recent years a handful of Japanese towns and cities have introduced partnership certificates for same-sex couples. Some have gender-neutral bathrooms. A small number of firms are trying to be more welcoming to transgender people, as well as offering benefits to same-sex partners. Ms Mitsuhashi says she has had no problems at her university . Nonetheless, Japan needs to be much readier to accept diversity in general, says Ms Ishii.
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