Society METI lifts transgender bathroom ban

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has finally lifted its discriminatory bathroom restrictions for a transgender employee in her 50s. After years of being confined to a single women's restroom, the employee can now use all women's restrooms in the ministry building. This decision comes after a long legal battle. In 2015, the Tokyo High Court upheld the National Personnel Authority's bathroom restrictions for transgender employees. However, in July 2023, the Supreme Court overturned this ruling, declaring the restrictions illegal. Despite this, METI continued to enforce the ban for over a year, citing the need for employee training on sexual minorities.

The National Personnel Authority revised its policy on 29 October 2023, explicitly condemning METI's justification for maintaining the discriminatory policy. The authority deemed the reason "unacceptable" and "unfair." This decision forced METI to lift its restrictive bathroom policy finally.

Since childhood, the employee had never felt comfortable living as a male. So, around 1998, after she started working for the ministry, the employee began her gender transition, which included taking hormone therapy. She has been working as a woman since 2010. "I don't understand why it took so long to lift the ban. It is obvious that the ministry had to lift the ban, and I no longer feel happy about it," the employee said. "There are so many private companies that allow transgender employees to use the bathroom freely, but the economy ministry consistently resorted to unreasonable treatment," she said. Maki Muraki, chairperson of the nonprofit organization Nijiiro Diversity, which gives lectures on sexual minorities to companies, said the economy ministry should take the lead in establishing a comfortable work environment for transgender employees and be a role model for private companies.

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