KYOTO -- A married transgender woman and her supporters plan to appeal the Kyoto Family Court's decision to dismiss her petition to change her gender on her family register from male to female.

The announcement was made at a March 26 press conference held by the petitioner, known by the pseudonym Miki, and others involved in the case. Miki, a Kyoto resident in her 50s, married her wife 10 years ago and later adopted a more feminine legal name. She often had to "come out" in daily life when she did not want to, leading her to seek a legal gender change.

Miki argued that the requirement in the special law for gender dysphoria, that applicants "not be currently married" to change their gender, forces the individual to get a divorce, and it violates the Japanese Constitution's Paragraph 2 of Article 24 guaranteeing marriage freedom. However, the family court noted that the special law is designed to prevent same-sex marriages, and stated, "This is an issue that should be debated in the Diet."

During the press conference, Miki acknowledged the court recognized her predicament of having to choose between divorcing her wife to change her gender or remaining married without doing so. Nonetheless, she criticized the court's decision as "careless" for failing to address the constitutional validity of the marriage status requirement while acknowledging the impingement on her human rights, and leaving the matter to the legislature.

(Japanese original by Reona Mizutani, Kyoto Bureau)