Blue boy trial

The Blue Boy Trial(ブルーボーイ事件) was a trial regarding the legality of sex reassignment surgery in Japan.

In the mid-20th century, the term "blue boy" was slang for a male transgender or transvestite person. Japanese eugenics laws banned sterilization.

In 1964, a doctor performed sex reassignment surgical operations on three men. The patients were arrested for prostitution. The doctor was prosecuted for violating eugenics laws. The doctor was found guilty, and the operations were considered unjustified, as they had been performed without adequate diagnoses of gender identity disorder.

After the trial, sex reassignment surgery was considered illegal for thirty years.