The Supreme Court is to hear the first case on the legality of changing entries in the Family Register for those who have had sex-change operations. The court is asking medical experts with experience in gender reassignment surgery and religious figures opposing the procedure to testify on May 18.
The case is an appeal by transgender individuals against rulings denying their request to change their sex in the Family Register at first and second instance. Next week?s hearing is to prepare the legal ground for a Supreme Court ruling in the case.
“The request of transgender individuals to change their official register will be decided after considering whether it is compatible with the feelings and understanding of the people and after opinions from various experts are collected,” a court official said.
The guiding principle so far has been that a person?s gender is determined by their chromosomes – xy for males and xx for females — during the early stages of the formation of the fetus. That is being challenged by a gender role theory taking account of psychological and mental aspects as well as physical determiners.
The Supreme Court is expected to provide a standard legal framework for such cases, which have met with conflicting rulings from various courts.
(englishnews@chosun.com )