(Photo by Mikhail Pavstyuk at Unsplash)
On 19 March, the Kyoto Family Court rejected a petition brought by a married trans woman to change legal sex. The petition stemmed from the fact that Japan’s legal transition law requires a person to be unmarried. The petitioner has already expressed her intention to appeal. [1] We reported on her court case earlier here.
The prohibition against allowing married individuals from changing legal sex is nominally to prevent a loophole which would result in allowing same sex marriage for those who transition. Japan has yet to legalize marriage equality. The decision stands in stark contrast to recent decisions finding the country’s lack of marriage equality to be unconstitutional (See our most recent coverage of this issue here.)
The petitioner has fulfilled all requirements of the law for legal transition save being unmarried. This includes meeting the now-defunct requirement for sterilization.
In its decision [2], the court notes the difficulties and significant psychological stress the plaintiff is met with due to her inability to alter her legal sex, and her fears of not being believed when presenting identification which bears her current legal sex. The court also notes that currently the plaintiff lives her life entirely as a woman while remaining married to her wife.
While the decision acknowledges that numerous High Courts have found the country’s lack of marriage equality is unconstitutional, the court ultimately decided that the responsibility for altering relevant laws lies with the legislature. In other words, the country’s lack of marriage equality has led the court to rejecting the petition, but the court recognized that not allowing already existing marriages to continue for those seeking legal transition “places limits on important legal benefits.”
TNET, a trans news and information group in Japan, has put out a statement criticizing the decision, calling for anyone seeking legal transition to be allowed to do so, noting that the current law, which includes having no children who are minors, “continues to place unfair limits on the family composition of transgender individuals.” [3]
More than anything, this case illustrates the issues with both Japan’s legal framework for transition as well as its lack of marriage equality. Namely, that people live their lives regardless of what the law says. The legal transition law requires an individual to have no spouse nor to have any minor children. This, despite the fact that many transgender individuals both remain in relationships and have their own children, regardless of their ability to change gender markers on legal documents. The law arbitrarily forces them to live a double existence. The same can be said of marriage equality. Numerous same-sex couples are in relationships that are identical to opposite-sex couples in every way but one: full legal recognition. Hopefully, Japan’s parliament will act swiftly to remedy both situations.
[1] 「既婚者の性別変更認めず 京都家裁｢直ちに憲法反せず」」19 March 2025, 日本経済新聞 [2] The court decision is available from call4’s website here (pdf, Japanese). [3] TNET, 【声明】性同一性障害特例法における非婚要件について
