Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Journal by takyon

Japan's Supreme Court upholds transgender sterilization requirement

Those who wish to change their gender on official documents must have their original reproductive organs removed, according to the 2004 law.

Japan’s Supreme Court has upheld a law that effectively requires transgender people to be sterilized before they can have their gender changed on official documents.

The court said the law is constitutional because it was meant to reduce confusion in families and society. But it acknowledged that it restricts freedom and could become out of step with changing social values.

[...] [Takakito] Usui, 45, had appealed to the top court after he unsuccessfully requested lower courts to grant him legal recognition as male without having his female reproductive glands surgically removed.

Despite the unanimous decision, presiding justice Mamoru Miura joined another justice in saying that while the law may not violate the constitution, “doubts are undeniably emerging,” according to Usui’s lawyer, Tomoyasu Oyama.

The two judges proposed regular reviews of the law and appropriate measures “from the viewpoint of respect for personality and individuality,” according to Japanese media reports.

[...] Japan does not legally recognize same-sex marriages. As LGBTQ rights awareness has gradually grown in recent years, some municipalities have begun issuing partnership certificates to ease problems in renting apartments and other areas, but they are not legally binding.

 

Reply to: Re:Sounds fair to me

    (Score: 3, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday January 27 2019, @09:01PM

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday January 27 2019, @09:01PM (#792734)

    Very interesting, and modded up because of it. I don't see how this gets squared with some of the other things you've said though, like your constant castigation of *all* cisgender women, me included, for your plight. Everything in your reply makes perfect sense, and I've actually come to many of the same conclusions; these would be the aforementioned principles keeping me from TERFdom. And the bitter irony is that by aligning themselves with the hard right, TERFs make things worse for all women but especially cis lesbians and pre-transition FtMs.

    Aaron (nee Paige) has told me in detail about precisely the kind of accusations of "treason" you mentioned, and as you pointed out, the very existence of FtMs trashes the entire TERF narrative hard. I never thought I'd see a more invisible, marginalized group than cisgender lesbians but transmen are it, and have the odd distinction of making up more of my social circle than any group aside from cisgender women. They are also some of the most chilled people I've ever met post-transition, and don't seem to have any of the toxic masculinity about them so many cis men do. And of course, I still remember with incredulity and not a little hilarity being accused of being "traitor to the Lesbian Race" (yes, with capital L and R and yes that is a direct quote) by some TERF for being trans-inclusive.

    This is nuts.

    Can we get along? If you'll just drop the knee-jerk blanket blaming of all cis women for what you've experienced at the hands of a few who are considered fringe even among radfems, that would go a long way toward repairing the breach.

Post Comment

Edit Comment You are not logged in. You can log in now using the convenient form below, or Create an Account, or post as Anonymous Coward.

Public Terminal

Anonymous Coward [ Create an Account ]

Use the Preview Button! Check those URLs!


Logged-in users aren't forced to preview their comments. Create an Account!

Allowed HTML
<b|i|p|br|a|ol|ul|li|dl|dt|dd|em|strong|tt|blockquote|div|ecode|quote|sup|sub|abbr|sarc|sarcasm|user|spoiler|del>

URLs
<URL:http://example.com/> will auto-link a URL

Important Stuff

  • Please try to keep posts on topic.
  • Try to reply to other people's comments instead of starting new threads.
  • Read other people's messages before posting your own to avoid simply duplicating what has already been said.
  • Use a clear subject that describes what your message is about.
  • Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated. (You can read everything, even moderated posts, by adjusting your threshold on the User Preferences Page)
  • If you want replies to your comments sent to you, consider logging in or creating an account.

If you are having a problem with accounts or comment posting, please yell for help.