Japan's Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional to require citizens to be sterilised before they can officially change genders, in a win for the country's LGBTQ community.
The 2004 law said people could only change their gender if they have no reproductive capacity.
Wednesday's ruling came after a transgender woman filed a petition challenging the law. Human Rights Watch has called it “abusive and outdated”.
Japan is one of 18 countries that mandate the sterilisation surgery – a requirement that is also opposed by the World Health Organization.
The woman's lawyer had argued that her reproductive ability has already been diminished by years of hormone therapy, adding that surgery entailed physical suffering and the risk of after-effects.
The Supreme Court verdict comes days after a local family court ruled in favour of a man who requested to have his gender legally changed without undergoing the surgery. But some groups including Save Women's Space have argued that if transgender people are allowed to change their registered gender without surgery , women will feel unsafe and there will be legal confusion.
The groups said they have collected about 15,000 signatures for a petition asking for the law to be deemed constitutional.
— CutC by bbc.com
