Transgender voices forced to sterilize without “surgical requirements” October 18, 15:35

"Would not a machine I human body. Like a to replace the parts, or cut a place that has come out, the Tteyuu to issue a place that is recessed is, I wonder if not that one of the blasphemy to humanity"

I It is a word that made me surprised when I was interviewing a woman.

Under the current Japanese law, the Act on Special Cases for Persons with Gender Identity Disorder (enacted in 2003), it is not possible to change the gender in the family register without undergoing sex reassignment surgery such as removing the gonad.

I was surprised that there was a law in Japan that required "sterilization", so I decided to cover this law and the situation surrounding transgender.

(Matsue Broadcasting Station Director Nanae Iwanaga)

“Always suspicious”

Chihiro Ueda, who lives in Matsue City.

A woman with a gender identity disorder.

Ueda, who lives with her 83-year-old mother, prepares dinner every day at 5 pm when her mother returns home from her short stay.

The menu for the day was boiled radish, which had been cheaper at a local supermarket, and retort-packed hayashi rice.

There are only a few ingredients in the refrigerator.

Since it is difficult to get a regular job, my father's deceased father's survivor's welfare pension relies on his life.

He says it's never easy.

Mr. Ueda has had many experiences that are difficult to get a job due to the prejudice against transgender and "eyes of doubt".

One of the reasons is that Mr. Ueda's family register gender does not match the social gender.

Mr. Ueda's family register gender when he was born is male.

Therefore, when he shows his ID, he is asked "Is this okay" and "What do you mean?" And he says that he is treated as if he is misrepresenting his gender.

Yu Ueda

"I

've

applied for supermarket cashiers and restaurants many times. But I'm all over the interview. Even if I get it, I can't do the job of

meeting

customers." Only work. I've always had miserable feelings. "

Still lived as a woman

Nevertheless, Mr. Ueda has lived a social life as a woman.

16 years ago, I felt that it was hard to breathe to live as a man by pretending to be myself anymore.

The word "I am a woman", who went out to the throat and killed him many times.

At the age of 46, Ueda came out with the determination to erase his life.

Since then, I have lived as a woman no matter how much my back finger is touched.

It was a thorny journey, but he said he felt that he could "breath" to live with a self-confessed sex.

Now, I have made many friends who come in contact with Mr. Ueda as a woman.

I'm on a trip with my friends.

However, Mr. Ueda still tends to refrain from doing something.

Even if you stay at the same inn, it is said that you sleep in a room different from your friends.

It has been sought every day in the real world how it is interpreted in the real world that the gender assigned by nature is different from self-identification.

Yu Ueda

"

That's

right. I want to be happy with everyone. But I want to be with you, but I can't take it. I'm always skeptical that I'm not

thinking,

" What is your true gender? " Because they are next to each other "

“Surgery requirements” to prevent gender changes in the family register

Mr. Ueda wants to get a family register as a woman, live as a woman, and die as a woman.

However, current legislation prevents gender changes in the family register.

A particularly big barrier is the "surgical requirements."

Under the Act on Special Cases for Persons with Gender Identity Disorders enacted in 2003, the gender in the family register cannot be changed unless the following five conditions are met.

1. 1.

Age requirement: 20 years old or older (from April 1, 2022 to 18 years old or older due to the reduction of the adult age)

2.

Non-marriage requirement: Not actually married

3.

Childless requirement: There are no minor children in fact

4.

Surgical requirements (infertility requirements): Absence of gonads or permanent lack of gonad function

.

Appearance requirements: The body must have an appearance that is similar to the genital parts of the body of other genders.

Of these, in order to meet 4. surgical requirements (infertility requirements) and 5. appearance requirements, sex reassignment surgery must be performed, the genital line (ovary / testis) must be removed, and the appearance of the genitals must be similar to the desired gender. You have to.

This surgery is very expensive and physically burdensome.

In fact, only 20% of transgender people nationwide have undergone sex reassignment surgery and have been able to change their gender in the family register.

From "surgery requirements" to "intention of the person"　

Experts analyze this situation as follows.

Professor Miho Mitsunari, Nara Women's University

"There are many people who can't change the gender in their family register, depending on the gender they want or the gender that is socially pervasive. Why? The surgical requirements are the highest. It's a hurdle. Why do we have to lose fertility in order to enter the gender of the family register according to gender self-identification? Why is it forced by the country? "

In order to overcome this situation, overseas, the "surgery requirement" has been abolished from the law, and instead, the idea of ​​respecting the "intention of the person" has become widespread.

In many European countries, legislation has been revised in the last decade or so.

For example, in Germany, if you want to live according to your gender identity for more than 3 years, you can change the gender in your family register, and in France, it is known as the gender requested by family friends, business associates, etc. A new rule has been established that you can change it if you meet the conditions such as.

Several international organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), also issued a joint statement in 2014 stating that requiring unwilling sterilization for gender change is a violation of human rights.

Japan is also at a turning point. Women's colleges that accept transgender

In response to these trends, Japan is also at a turning point.

In a proposal announced in September 2020, the Science Council of Japan proposed to abolish it as a "too high hurdle" to force the parties to divorce and deprive them of reproductive function, except for age requirements.

The special law should be abolished and a new law should be enacted that stipulates the procedure for changing the gender description.

The LGBT Law Association also praised the recommendations of the Science Council of Japan, stating that the "Basic Policy for Amendment of Special Laws" compiled in April 2020 should "eliminate mainly surgical requirements that are extremely concerned about human rights violations." bottom.

In addition, by this year, four of the women's colleges across the country have announced that they will accept students who identify themselves as "female" regardless of whether they have surgery or not.

Nara Women's University, where Professor Sansei is enrolled, has expanded the conventional concept of "women" to accept "transgender women with gender identity as women" from FY2020.

We want to proactively guarantee the right of transgender women to learn, whether or not they have had surgery.

“I want to be me without operations” Voices spread all over the country

Like Mr. Ueda, the desire to live in the desired gender without surgery is increasing all over the country.

Gen Suzuki (46), who lives in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture and lives as a man, stipulates the provisions of the Act on Special Cases for Persons with Gender Identity Disorder, which requires gender reassignment surgery, to respect individuals and equality before the law. Claimed to be invalid in violation of the Constitution.

On October 4, this year, we filed a petition with the Shizuoka Family Court Hamamatsu Branch to allow changes in the gender of the family register without undergoing sex reassignment surgery.

Mr. Suzuki, who had a press conference, said as follows.

Gen Suzuki

"I want to live with a gender identity that matches my gender identity and appearance. Even if my internal organs have ovaries, my gender identity and gender identity have nothing to do with being a man. It's strange that the country asks for an operation that he doesn't want, even though he thinks it's the same. "

If the complaint is not approved, Mr. Suzuki will dispute the Tokyo High Court and the Supreme Court.

Symbiosis with the ingenuity of the surroundings

One of the major barriers for transgender people who have not undergone sex reassignment surgery is the public baths.

Since the public bath association divides men and women based on their physical gender (whether or not they have sex reassignment surgery) rather than their family register, people with male genitalia cannot enter the women's bath. increase.

Yu Ueda hasn't been in the hot springs for decades.

I had given up because I couldn't do it even if I wanted to enter.

Therefore, a local hot spring inn has moved so that transgender people can also enjoy the hot springs.

With the help of Okami, I rented out a private bathhouse that is used as a family bath, and now I can use it for the same price as a normal day trip bath.

Tamatsukuri Onsen Okami Junko Aoto

"(Mr. Ueda) said," I try not to enter the hot springs if I'm in a position like myself. "When I heard that, there are so many hot springs in the area. It was sad that I had never experienced it. I'm a woman, but I think that other women are worried about Ueda-san taking a women's bath now. I think that is a reality, so I think that there is no problem if the facility side can take the form that it will not bother other customers like this. "

Thanks to Mr. Aoto's meticulous response, Mr. Ueda is now able to enjoy the hot springs freely when he feels like it.

Yu Ueda

"I thought it would be impossible for something like myself to enter the hot springs, so I'm glad to be considerate. The hot springs are a pleasant and refreshing moment."

Okami also says that her encounter with Mr. Ueda led her to look at various needs.

To a society where you can live as you are

Through the interview, I thought that the transgender parties are living with various compromises while fighting prejudice and “eyes of suspicion”.

Not to mention "knowing your position as a transgender", listening to the stories of those who have always known, I feel that the parties want to think positively about "how to live as they are". I did.

I also felt hope that the choices and the range of actions that can be taken are increasing little by little due to the ingenuity of the people around me and the concern of the facility.

We will continue to cover the matter, hoping that the law will be reviewed and transgender people who do not want surgery will be able to live in their own sexuality while gaining understanding in the community.

Matsue Broadcasting Station Director

Nanae Iwanaga

Joined in 2017

Mainly covering gender, diversity, and educational issues

NHK Matsue Broadcasting Station "We are here"

Local LGBTs who rarely speak out.

We asked the voices of people who are related to Shimane Prefecture.