Japan’s Supreme Court ruled that the government cannot require transgender people to undergo surgery in order to change their legal gender, Kyodo News said, a decision that brings the country in line with many other advanced democracies.

Under the current law, a family court may allow a change of registered gender for people who have no reproductive function and whose external genitalia resemble those of the gender with which they identify – effectively requiring surgery. 

The case was brought by a transgender woman in western Japan who wishes to change her legal status to female, according to Kyodo. The plaintiff argued that surgery entails an excessive physical and economic burden, and that long-term use of hormone therapy had already resulted in reduced fertility, the news agency said.

According to Equaldex, 86 countries allow changes to legal gender, with 39 of them requiring surgery – a condition that the UN calls “abusive.” Those that don’t make surgery a requirement include France, Ireland and parts of the US.  

Currently, people who wish to change their registered gender must be at least 18, unmarried – because Japan doesn’t allow same-sex marriage – and have no minor children. They must also be diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Courts have allowed almost 20,000 people to change gender in Japan since 2004, according to national broadcaster NHK.

After years of wrangling. Japan earlier this year passed a watered-down bill on promoting LGBTQ understanding, which didn’t provide any specific rights or ban discrimination. The law sparked anger among rights activists and concern among conservative lawmakers.  

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The bid to end the surgery requirement has also met with opposition from a ruling LDP lawmakers’ group set up following the passage of the LGBTQ law. The group submitted a petition to the justice minister in September, calling for the requirement to be maintained. 

The United Nations Human Rights Office urges governments to recognise the gender of trans people through a simple administrative process based on self-identification and not subject to conditions like sterilisation or divorce. BLOOMBERG