Trans people are forced to be sterilized in some countries, which is unbelievable.

This week, a landmark judgement in Japan ruled that requiring trans people to be sterilised prior to changing legal gender markers was unconstitutional. This is cause for celebration - the law had been rightly criticised for years for being abusive, cruel and a breach of people’s human rights.

However, the ruling was still tinged with sadness. While the judges ruled against the requirement for sterilisation, they refused to fully rule on a further cruel clause, mandating that the genitals of a trans person must ‘resemble’ the opposite gender. This means that of the five arbitrary and inhumane ‘requirements’ trans people need to meet to change gender, four still remain.

Why should someone’s marriage have a bearing on whether they can change gender? This is nonsensical and highlights how mistreated trans people are in the world - with people not fully seeing us as equal to other human beings.

For a country that is modern and advanced, Japan’s approach to LGBT+ rights hasn’t improved nearly as much as in many other places in the world. It is the only country in the G7 that doesn’t recognise marriage equality. This is a stark reminder of how slow progress can be, even when it comes to positive changes.

Changes like this are crucial to trans people. Being forced to use an ID that no longer reflects how we live our lives can cause serious issues. It can cause problems when people use public services, when we travel and even when we seek medical help.

My home country, Iceland, has gone even further since. Trans people can now change their legal gender marker at the start of their transition, updating their ID to navigate society with documentation that better reflects and matches who they actually are. It’s terrifying to think that, had I been born in a different country, I would have been forced to be sterilised.

It’s clear that there is still a long way to go to ensure that LGBT+ people can live with dignity. We need to be mindful of this, so that we can take steps to eradicate prejudice and discrimination.

Rulings like the one in Japan will always result in mixed feelings, as every sign of progress reminds us of how far we have to go. However, it is important to remember that trans people are a part of every society in the world, and that we all deserve to live with dignity.

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