I can’t believe these countries are forcing trans people like me to be sterilized

This week, a landmark ruling in Japan ruled that it is unconstitutional to require transgender people to be sterilized before changing legal sex characteristics.

This is of course cause for celebration – the law has been rightly criticized for years as abusive, cruel and a violation of people’s human rights – but the decision is still marked by sadness and a reminder of how far we have to go in the pursuit of equality. .

Not only because the judges refused to fully rule on another cruel clause requiring a trans person’s genitals to “look” like the opposite sex, but also because of the possibility of politicians in the socially conservative country debating whether this will not implement the law. . Pronunciation.

This means that transgender people must meet five arbitrary and inhumane ‘requirements’ to change their gender: be over 18 years old, be unmarried, have no minor children; with genitals similar to those of the opposite sex and no reproductive capacity – there are four left.

It’s nonsensical: why should a person’s marriage affect whether he or she can change gender?

For a modern and progressive country, Japan’s approach to LGBT+ rights has not improved nearly as much as many other places around the world.

For example, it is the only country in the G7 that does not recognize marriage equality.

When I see the judgments about LGBT+ equality, good or bad, I think of my own experiences and how lucky I was to grow up in Iceland, a country where such inhumane laws do not exist.

Since then, my home country has gone even further and transgender people can now change their legal gender marker and update their ID as they begin their transition to navigate society with documents that better reflect and match who they really are.

It’s scary to think that I might have to be forcibly sterilized, and I imagine it’s a terrible prospect for transsexuals who want to become parents that your government and your country don’t want you to reproduce based solely on your personality . . .

The way such clauses can even be passed is truly disturbing and tells us a lot about how poorly transgender people are treated in the world and how people do not see us as fully equal to other people.

And it shows how slow progress can be; even the introduction of this clause in 2003 was part of a law that allowed people to change gender for the first time. Victories for LGBT+ rights often seem to be accompanied by defeats.

Such changes are crucial for transgender people: forcing us to use an ID that no longer reflects our way of life can cause serious problems.

It can cause problems when people like us use public services travel and also when we seek medical treatment.

In Japan, opponents of the court’s ruling made the same tired arguments that will be familiar to those of us in Britain who spend our days combating misconceptions spread by anti-trans voices.

Especially the arguments that “women feel unsafe around trans women” and that this could lead to “legal confusion”.

In my opinion, these are not credible arguments; The only thing such statements do is ensure that transgender people can live a dignified life in society.

That’s all we want.

Fortunately, opinions appear to be changing in Japan, with recent polls showing increasing support for LGBT+-friendly laws such as the recognition of marriage equality.

I hope that this landmark ruling in Japan will have far-reaching consequences and pave the way for greater change and equal rights for transgender people in this region and around the world.

Although Japan has abolished sterilization requirements for transgender people, an estimated 11 countries in Europe and Central Asia still have sterilization requirements – including Turkey and Finland.

Progress has been made in some places, such as Sweden, where transgender people who undergo sterilization now receive compensation, but there is clearly still a long way to go.

You only have to look at the hostility towards the community in Britain to see this.

While Britain is not nearly as institutionally hostile to LGBT+ people as Japanese society, regular readers will know that we have no shortage of challenges.

As trans people, it is exhausting to see our politicians use us as a political football in a country that has far more pressing problems than trans people using public toilets or trans women being housed in women’s wards.

Transgender people are part of every society in the world and will continue to exist no matter what comes from governments and siren voices that oppose our rights.

Because being transsexual is ultimately part of the daily diversity of life.

The sooner we as a society and as a world recognize this, the sooner we can take action to protect the rights of transgender people, eliminate prejudice and discrimination, and find ways to live together in harmony.

Statements like the one in Japan will always cause mixed feelings, because every sign of progress reminds us how far we have to go to ensure that LGBT+ people can live a life of dignity.

Because no matter where we are in the world, no matter what gender or orientation we are, this is something we all deserve.

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