The political space for action exists. What’s missing is leadership willing to act on what courts have already decided.
Takaichi Sanae’s appointment as Japan’s first woman prime minister is historic, but the symbolism obscures a more immediate challenge: LGBTQ+ rights. Her government faces a widening gap between what courts have ruled and what parliament has enacted – and trans people and same-sex couples are caught in between.
The pattern is consistent. In 2023, Japan’s Supreme Court ruled that requiring sterilization for legal gender recognition violated the constitution. Courts have found the marriage equality ban unconstitutional in multiple jurisdictions. Family courts continue granting trans people legal recognition without surgical requirements.
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