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Sex change recognition law enacted in Japan
July 11, 2003
The Diet enacted a law Thursday to enable people with gender identity disorder
to change, under certain conditions, the way their sex is listed in their
family registries.
The House of Representatives unanimously approved the bill for the "law
concerning special cases in handling gender for people with gender identity
disorder" following swift deliberation.
The legislation, authored by a project team of the tripartite ruling coalition,
was submitted 10 days earlier to the House of Councilors Judicial Affairs
Committee. The law is scheduled to take effect one year after promulgation.
It will allow people to change their registration if they have been diagnosed
by at least two doctors as having a different psychological makeup from their
biological sex and a desire to live as the opposite gender both physically and
socially.
Applicants must be at least 20 years old, unmarried, have no children, and no
longer have functioning reproductive organs as a result of undergoing
sex-change operations.
If all the conditions are met and a family court gives approval, a new
registration may be created with a different sex entry.
The law is expected to eliminate obstacles people with GID often face in daily
life, such as in filling out job applications and voting.
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