Eliminate the No-Child Requirement from Japan's Gender Identity Disorder Act
Eliminate the No-Child Requirement from Japan's Gender Identity Disorder Act
The Issue
Although I am living as a woman, people loudly call me "Papa" after they saw my document. Despite my male appearance, this one word "woman" on my document confuses the hospital reception where I went with my child.
These are the situations that parents face when they couldn’t have proper gender indication.
In Japan, there is a law called the Gender Identity Disorder Act, which stipulates the requirements for people with gender incongruence to change their registered gender. This Act demands the person not being married and having undergone gender reassignment surgeries, which impose financially and physically a heavy burden. In addition to these, the Act also requires the person not to have a minor child. Among the world, only Japanese law imposes this requirement.
According to the Trans Legal Mapping Report issued by an NGO called ILGA (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association), only Japan makes the gender change dependent on the existence of children and their age in a stipulated law among 111 countries and 13 regions, which the Report surveys about the regulations to change legal gender.
17 years have passed since the GID Act was established in 2003. The legislator inserted this No-Child requirement because "the change of gender of parents affects the welfare of the child." In other terms, the legislator premised that the parents changing their legal gender have a negative impact on their children.
But does the change of gender disqualifies a person as a parent?
Being parents does not depend on you being a woman or a man. Each member in a family with a parent who needs the change of legal gender, as well as all other families, finds their own way of happiness while empathizing with others or dealing with misunderstandings.
Even when they cannot change their legal gender, as a matter of fact,people live their own life with the appearance which represents their true self. Nothing can negate their wish to live a peaceful life as who they are.
Even if the appearance, clothes, and legal name have changed, difficulties remain in their daily events, such as seeking a job, obtaining a qualification, finding an apartment, or participating in school events of their children when their legal gender keeps indicating the wrong information.
Isn't it the law that makes the family life difficult and "affects the welfare of the child"? It is time to eliminate the No-Minor-Child requirement from the GID Act.
GID Act “No-Child” Requirement Project Team
Petitioners:Shun Nakaoka
cooperative organization:gid.jp
contact : team.respect2020@gmail.com
- This campaign focuses solely on the No-Minor-Child requirement in the petition.
The Issue
Although I am living as a woman, people loudly call me "Papa" after they saw my document. Despite my male appearance, this one word "woman" on my document confuses the hospital reception where I went with my child.
These are the situations that parents face when they couldn’t have proper gender indication.
In Japan, there is a law called the Gender Identity Disorder Act, which stipulates the requirements for people with gender incongruence to change their registered gender. This Act demands the person not being married and having undergone gender reassignment surgeries, which impose financially and physically a heavy burden. In addition to these, the Act also requires the person not to have a minor child. Among the world, only Japanese law imposes this requirement.
According to the Trans Legal Mapping Report issued by an NGO called ILGA (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association), only Japan makes the gender change dependent on the existence of children and their age in a stipulated law among 111 countries and 13 regions, which the Report surveys about the regulations to change legal gender.
17 years have passed since the GID Act was established in 2003. The legislator inserted this No-Child requirement because "the change of gender of parents affects the welfare of the child." In other terms, the legislator premised that the parents changing their legal gender have a negative impact on their children.
But does the change of gender disqualifies a person as a parent?
Being parents does not depend on you being a woman or a man. Each member in a family with a parent who needs the change of legal gender, as well as all other families, finds their own way of happiness while empathizing with others or dealing with misunderstandings.
Even when they cannot change their legal gender, as a matter of fact,people live their own life with the appearance which represents their true self. Nothing can negate their wish to live a peaceful life as who they are.
Even if the appearance, clothes, and legal name have changed, difficulties remain in their daily events, such as seeking a job, obtaining a qualification, finding an apartment, or participating in school events of their children when their legal gender keeps indicating the wrong information.
Isn't it the law that makes the family life difficult and "affects the welfare of the child"? It is time to eliminate the No-Minor-Child requirement from the GID Act.
GID Act “No-Child” Requirement Project Team
Petitioners:Shun Nakaoka
cooperative organization:gid.jp
contact : team.respect2020@gmail.com
- This campaign focuses solely on the No-Minor-Child requirement in the petition.
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Petition created on September 9, 2020