Japan court awards damages to victims of forced sterilisation for first time
GuardianMAY 2022
While this landmark verdict is a start, requiring any kind of expensive or invasive surgeries for a legal change of gender should be rendered unconstitutional. There is a lot of work left to be done to protect LGBTQ+ rights in Japan.
Traditional, paternalistic family values are important in Japan, and requiring some level of surgery to ensure people's certainty in gender transitioning protects traditional elements of the nation's culture. Moreover, allowing those born with male reproductive organs to transition to the female gender without surgery could endanger the safety of women's spaces.