A court in South Korea has ruled that requiring gender reassignment surgery as a criteria for legally changing one’s gender is unlawful. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
YEONGDONG, May 9 (Korea Bizwire) – A court in South Korea has ruled that requiring gender reassignment surgery as a criteria for legally changing one’s gender is unlawful.
The Yeongdong Branch of the Cheongju District Court announced on May 8 that it has granted permission for five transgender individuals, including one identified only as Mr. A, to revise their gender status in family registration records from male to female, despite not having undergone gender reassignment surgery.
The individuals were registered as male at birth but have had a profound female gender identity since childhood, consistently receiving hormone therapy for years, according to reports.
The court explained, “The Supreme Court previously revised its administrative guidelines related to revising legal gender status for transgender people, changing gender reassignment surgery from a ‘criteria for approval’ to a ‘reference.’”
However, it acknowledged, “Some courts have continued to require documentation of gender reassignment surgery at their discretion, using the failure to submit such records as grounds for denying legal gender changes.”
Article 6 of the Supreme Court’s guidelines states that legal gender change requires recognition that one’s external appearance, including genitalia, has changed to the opposite sex under the judgment of a qualified physician, and acknowledgment that the individual has lost reproductive abilities with extremely low likelihood of reverting to the previous gender after surgery.
Yet the court asserted, “Every human being has the right to form their identity and live according to their gender, and transgender people must be able to pursue happiness as equal members of our society.”
It added, “Forcing transgender people to undergo surgical procedures is a violation that compels them to compromise their bodily integrity.”
Song Ji-eun, a lawyer from the LGBTIQ Youth Support Center Dding Dong who represented the case, commented, “This decision is significant in clarifying that the surgery requirement violates the principle of statutory reservation. The Supreme Court should swiftly abolish the relevant provisions to ensure consistent standards for lower courts in approving gender changes.”
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
