Japan’s Supreme Court has ruled that a law requiring transgender people to undergo sterilization surgery in order to officially change their gender is unconstitutional. It's a landmark decision that has been welcomed by advocates as a sign of growing acceptance of LGBTQ+ rights. The decision by the top court’s 15-judge Grand Bench was its first on the constitutionality of Japan’s 2003 law requiring sex reassignment surgery as a condition for a state-recognized gender change, a practice long criticized by international rights and medical groups. The ruling applies to the sterilization portion of the law only, and does not address the constitutionality of requiring sex-reassignment surgery in general.

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