Photo/Illutration The plaintiff speaks at a news conference on July 11 after the Supreme Court ruled in her favor regarding the use of the women's bathroom at the economy ministry. (Takashi Endo)

The Supreme Court ruling regarding bathroom use for a transgender woman at her office sent a positive message to society on the treatment of sexual minorities in the workplace, according to the plaintiff.

The Supreme Court’s Third Petty Bench ruled on July 11 that not allowing the female employee at the economy ministry to use a woman’s bathroom on her own office floor was illegal.

In addition to the unanimous ruling, the five justices also all wrote supporting opinions that said living one’s life according to one’s gender identity was a “compelling benefit” that was “legally protected.”

“The most important thing is to be able to lead a life in society,” the plaintiff said at a news conference after the Supreme Court ruling. “Within that life are issues related to restrooms and baths, but it should not be trivialized to such individual problems.”

Lawyers for the plaintiff praised the Supreme Court ruling for focusing on the specific circumstances of their client.

While the plaintiff is registered as a male on her family register, she has taken female hormones and has been diagnosed as having a low possibility of committing sexual violence based on sexual urges.

She consulted with her superior at work and a meeting was held to explain her circumstance to her colleagues. No problems emerged when she used the women’s restroom on a different floor at the economy ministry.

“The message from the Supreme Court was that no judgment should be made solely due to abstract concerns about using the women’s bathroom,” her lawyers said. “Decisions should only be made based on the specific circumstances of the individual.”

Takayoshi Okada, a constitutional law professor at the Prefectural University of Hiroshima, said the ruling was groundbreaking because “it, in effect, recognized the rights of transgender individuals.”

Okada, who is knowledgeable about the rights of sexual minorities, added that the ruling would have a major impact because it said that individual and specific circumstances should be examined when making decisions about protecting the rights of sexual minorities.

At the same time, in his supporting opinion, Justice Yukihiko Imasaki wrote that the ruling did not extend to the use of public facilities, including bathrooms, that many people may use.

That wording may have been included because of the views expressed by some that men who say they identify as a woman may enter the women’s bathroom to commit criminal acts.

The plaintiff’s lawyers said raising alarms that people will begin impersonating transgender individuals to do such acts were nothing but “unfounded rumors” based on discrimination and bias.

It remains to be seen what wider impact the ruling will have on companies.

Indeed Japan, which provides an online service to help people find jobs, recently conducted a survey that found only an estimated 5 percent of companies had implemented a workplace policy regarding bathrooms and changing rooms for their transgender employees.

Takeyoshi Iwamoto, an associate professor of gender studies at Kanazawa University, conducted a study in November 2022 of 1,325 individuals, including 325 transgender individuals, which found about 40 percent were unable to use the bathrooms at their workplaces that matched their gender identity.

He also found about 70 percent of respondents either had no or only some resistance to allowing transgender people use the bathroom that matched their gender identity.

Iwamoto said alongside the spread of better understanding, further awareness campaigns were needed to make it easier for transgender people to use the bathroom of their gender identity.

(This article was written by Kazufumi Kaneko and Takashi Endo.)

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