Tokyo District Court orders Hiromi Muramatsu and Kofu city councilor to compensate Taiwanese Akutagawa Prize-winning author Li Qinfeng for being outed, and the two do not know each other.

The Tokyo District Court ruled on the 29th in a lawsuit filed by Taiwanese Akutagawa Prize-winning author Li Qinfeng, who sought 5.5 million yen in compensation from Kofu City Councilor Hiromi Muramatsu, alleging that she suffered from ``outing,'' in which her name and photo before changing her gender were posted on social media, revealing that she was transgender. Presiding Judge Yohei Motomura found the incident to be an invasion of privacy and ordered the city councilor to pay compensation of 1.1 million yen.

According to the lawsuit, in May 2024, the city councilor posted about Lee, saying, ``He has a male body and has not had any surgery.'' Lee also released photos of her as a minor before changing her gender and her real name. It is said that the two were not acquainted.

Lee's side claims that it is illegal and violates privacy rights and portrait rights. City council members argued that information indicating that Lee was transgender had already been spread on the Internet, and that the move did not violate Lee's privacy.