Tokyo on Tuesday began issuing relationship certificates to same-sex couples living and working in the Japanese capital, a long-awaited step in a country without same-sex marriage.
Source: AFP
These certificates allow LGBTQ relationships to be treated as married couples for some public services in matters such as housing, medicine or social assistance.
More than 200 local governments in Japan have carried out initiatives to recognize same-sex unions since Tokyo’s Shibuya district launched the system in 2015.
Though does not imply the same rights of a marriageThis move represents a welcome change for couples like Miki and Katie, who for a long time had no official proof of their relationship.
“My biggest fear was being treated like strangers in an emergency,” Miki told AFP at her Tokyo home, whose fridge is decorated with pictures of the 36-year-old Japanese woman and her 31-year-old American partner.
Read more: Russia reinforces its conservative line by toughening the law on “LGBT propaganda”
Friday morning 137 couples had requested the certificateTokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said.
“Through this system in Tokyo, I sincerely hope that we can accelerate efforts to create a society where the rights of sexual minorities can be protected and are more equal,” activist Soyoka Yamamoto told reporters on Tuesday.
Yamamoto and his partner Yoriko, who have been living together for more than a decade, received their certificate in the morning.
“I hope that now we can access various facilities and services without having to explain our relationship,” said Yoriko, for whom this is “a huge step forward.”
– Numerous obstacles –
In recent years, Japan, ruled by a conservative party that embraces traditional family values, has taken baby steps toward accepting sexual diversity.
More and more companies support same-sex marriage, and LGBTQ characters appear more openly on television shows. A 2021 NHK television poll showed 57% support for same-sex marriage, against 37% against.
But there are still obstacles.
A court in Sapporo last year considered that the absence of legal same-sex marriage violated the constitutional principle of equality, but in June another court in Osaka ruled otherwise.
More about the subject: Equal marriage is already legal throughout Mexico
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was cautious about the possibility of nationally recognizing same-sex unions.
A local mayor from his Liberal Democratic Party, Noboru Watanabe, came under fire last month after saying same-sex marriage was “disgusting”.
“Some politicians have made really negative comments, like we’re mentally ill,” Katie told AFP. But “families are not always made up of a mother, a father and two children. We have to be more flexible,” she argues.
Though welcome, The new system has limitations: it does not recognize the right to inheritance and it does not allow applying for a visa as a couple in the case of relationships between Japanese and foreigners.
