A transsexual presented candidacy documents Tuesday to an election administration committee for a preliminary check, a major hurdle in her bid to run for the assembly in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo.
Aya Kamikawa, 35, who has gender identity disorder and now considers herself a woman, left blank the application entry for gender, although she is registered as male in her official family registry. She is on a hospital waiting list to undergo a sex-change operation this year.
Kamikawa said she hopes her election application will be accepted with the gender entry left blank. But if she is told she must fill it in, she will choose female and insist she is not a man.