TOKYO -- Japan's Supreme Court concluded Wednesday that a law requiring citizens to undergo sterilization before changing their legal gender is unconstitutional, in a sign of progress for transgender rights advocates.
The decision is the first by the top court to find Japan's rules on legal gender change at odds with the constitution, and highlights the growing rift between public opinion and the government on LGBTQ rights in the only Group of Seven nation not to legally recognize same-sex unions. It is only the 12th time the Supreme Court has found a law unconstitutional since 1945.
