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Tokyo Same-Sex Couples Start Receiving Partnership Certificates

LGBTQ+ demonstration in Japan

The certificates don't confer all the rights of marriage but represent a step forward, activists say.

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In what LGBTQ+ people in Japan hope is a harbinger of marriage equality, Tokyo's city government began issuing partnership certificates to same-sex couples Tuesday.

The certificates allow the couples' unions to be recognized for services such as housing and health care, but they do not confer any rights when it comes to inheritance, adoption, or spousal visas, the BBC reports.

Japan is the only country in the G7, an association of countries with advanced economies, that does not have marriage equality. Several smaller municipal governments, including parts of Tokyo, have already offered partnership recognition that confers some but not all the rights of marriage. As of Tuesday, the certificates are available throughout Tokyo.

Polling indicates that a majority of Japanese citizens support marriage equality, but there has been resistance from politicians. And this year a court in Osaka upheld the nation's ban on same-sex marriage, after a court in Sapporo had ruled the ban unconstitutional previously.

LGBTQ+ activists tried to push for greater equality ahead of the Tokyo Olympics last year, but little has changed. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida "has been cautious" about campaigning for marriage equality legislation, The Guardian notes.

As of Friday, 137 partnership applications had been submitted. Anyone who lives and works in Tokyo is eligible. One of the couples, identified only by their first names, Miki and Katie, told Agence France-Presse that obtaining the certificate will relieve some of their worries. "My biggest fear has been that we would be treated as strangers in an emergency," Miki said.

She added that the availability of partnership recognition would help advance acceptance. "The more people make use of these partnership systems, the more our community will feel encouraged to tell family and friends about their relationships, without hiding their true selves," she said.

Activist Soyoka Yamamoto, one of the first to obtain a certificate, told media outlets, "We can accelerate efforts to create a society where the rights of sexual minorities can be protected and made more equal."

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.