Challenge the surgery requirements for changing the registered sex in Japan 

"She" Is Not a "Woman"

My name is Gen Suzuki, the plaintiff of this lawsuit and a transgender man. I felt painful being recognized as a "girl" since I was little. Soon after I turned in to an adult, I started hormone therapy, got the breast surgery. So now I am beared, muscular, and have no period. I also made an oath with my female partner.  Overall, I feel it is "very easy to live" when being recognized as a couple of man and woman by the people around me. 

However, my family register still remains "female", because the "Act on Special Cases in Handling Gender Status for Persons with Gender Identity Disorder" (hereinafter "The Gender Identity Disorder Special Law") requires that the applicant must "not have gonads or permanently lack functioning gonads" to change the gender on the family register, but I did not satisfy the surgery requiremen.¹

 Why an Unwanted Surgery Is Required by Law?

I do not feel any need to do the sterilization surgery.

I chose to do hormone therapy and chest surgery so that I can live in line with ny male identity. But I do not want to do the sterilization surgery. It will not change the shape or appearance of the body, so it will not change my male identity. 

The issue is why we (me and others in similar situations) have to do an unwanted surgery? Why do we have to take the physical and psychological risks of surgery that we think are unnecessary? Most importantly, why do we have to be legally determined when it comes to our way of life and our body?

Voices in Japan and from Abroad

It is true that the Gender Identity Disorder Special Law, which began on July 16, 2004, provides means for those suffering from gender discomfort. The Law has enabled more than 10,000 individuals to change the gender of their family register.

However, the Law has not catched up with the rapidly changing societal conditions during the past 17 years. More and more countries are removing the surgical requirement for internal resection, saying that "forcing surgery as a condition for gender change is a violation of human rights." Among 54 countries in Europe and Central Asia, 41 countries have no surgical requirements.²

UN agencies such as the WHO have issued a statement to stop "making sterilization to remove the gonads a requirement for gender change."³

Similarly, in Japan, the Science Council of Japan, Human Rights Watch, Japanese Society of Gender Identity Disorder, and other NGOs. issued proposals calling for "revision of the Gender Identity Disorder Special Law, including the deletion of surgical requirements."⁴

 A Society Where We Are Respected as Who We Are

The gender of the family register is used both for public and private records including the school list, hospital visits, election/voting, job hunting, census, and even death notifications. However, people have to accept a registered gender they do not identify with, and sometimes, it frustrates them so much that they simply give up their lives. 

The inconsistency between the “self-identified and apparent gender” and the gender of the family register can sometimes make one's living very painful. Moreover, it frustrates young people to lead promising and positive lives.

Further, due to the surgical requirements for internal resection, sometimes teenagers can make such  big decisions early in their lives. The surgery usually exerts a huge burden on the family, let alone the physical and mental burdens on the individual. 

Sexuality is diverse and should not be forced. Whether to conduct the surgery should be a decision by the individual not "because it is required by law ...". I believe that being able to decide your own body and way of life" is one of the key elements in human rights, which are essential to living. 

I hope that children with a diversity of values will be able to live together in this society with freedom and multiple options in the future. Let's create a society where we are free to decide who we are.

 Lawyers

 Yoko Mizutani and Tetsushi Horie (Aichi Bar Association)

 Moeka Watanabe and Tomomi Fujisawa (Shizuoka Bar Association)

 Hirotaka Honda (Tokyo Bar Association)

 How to Use the Funds

Support will be used for costs in court filings, litigation materials preparation and campaigns. But the attorney will not charge any attorney fees this time. 

However, even excluding the attorney cost, the overall cost will be very high such as the costs of expert written opinions, translating materials, transportation, printing, etc. We roughly estimated that about 3 million yen will be required. Because it is a pioneered petition regarding an issue rarely challenged in Japan, there are very few judicial precedents. So it is necessary to order materials from overseas including technical terms that do not exist in Japan, and the translation will cost a lot of money. Additionally, we will request expert written opinions from Japanese scholars. Overall, it will be an extremely heavy burden for the plaintiff, Gen-san, to carry alone.

Moreover, we are planning various campaigns to support this litigation. We will gather the voices from concerned individuals, raise public awareness of the gender issue, and exert impacts on both society and legislation. Our target amount also includes the costs for the campaign, such as pamphlets, website design and creation, events, exhibitions, rainbow pride parades in different regions in Japan, and transportations.

Thank You for Reading!

We hope that everyone can choose their own life and be valued by society as who they are, with or without surgery. We ask for your support in order to create a society in which choices are available and self-determined choice is respected.

We appreciate all your support regardless of the amount or merely sharing our endeavors with those around you. Thank you for listening to our story. 

End Notes

¹ Article 3(1) of&nbsp;</span>Act on Special Cases in Handling Gender Status for Persons with Gender Identity Disorder, Act No. 111 of July 16, 2003. 性同一性障害者の性別の取扱いの特例に関する法律. http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=2542&vm=04&re=02 (accessed Sept. 13, 2021).

² "Aiming to guarantee the rights of sexual minorities (II)" September 23, 2020, Science Council of Japan, p. 52.

³ "Joint Statement Calling for the Elimination of Forced, Forced, or Unwilling Sterilization" May 30, 2014.

⁴ "Aiming to guarantee the rights of sexual minorities (II)" September 23, 2020, Science Council of Japan; "Law that hurt dignity": Increased momentum toward revision of the Act on Special Cases for Persons with Gender Identity Disorders, May 25, 2021, Human Rights Watch; Recommendations from the GID (Gender Identity Disorder) Society for the revision of the "Act on Special Cases for Gender Identity Disorders", May 21, 2021, GID Society.