"Japan's Supreme Court Abolishes Gender Change Surgery Requirement"

Japan's top court has ruled that a legal requirement for individuals to undergo sterilization surgery in order to change their legal gender is unconstitutional. The decision was welcomed by rights groups, but disappointment was expressed over the court's postponement of a decision on a separate clause requiring genital organs to resemble those of the opposite gender. Some lawmakers and women's groups argued that challenging the existing law would undermine women's rights. The government is now obligated to remove the unconstitutional clause, according to Human Rights Watch. Transgender rights remain a sensitive topic in socially conservative Japan.