Tokyo will begin recognizing same-s.e.x partnerships from November after revising current rules, officials said Wednesday, becoming the largest city in Japan to do so.
Japan is the only nation of the Group of Seven countries that do not recognise same-s.e.x unions, and its constitution stipulates that “marriage shall be only with the mutual consent of both sexes”.
But in recent years, local authorities across the country have made moves to recognize same-s.e.x partnerships, although such recognition does not carry the same rights as marriage under the law.
“We collected opinions from the public for the past two months and we heard opinions (from same-s.e.x couples) who said they want to be recognized as partners,” a Tokyo government spokesman told AFP.
The metropolitan government plans to ask legislators to approve revising a local ordinance next month, and will then begin accepting applications for the certificates in October and issuing them in November.
The city is considering offering various services currently only available to married couples to those with the partnership certificate, including applying for city-administered apartments, the spokesman said.
Tokyo’s Shibuya district in 2015 became the first place in Japan to begin issuing symbolic “partnership” certificates to same-s.e.x couples.
Many areas have followed suit, with activists saying more than 200 municipalities now recognize same-s.e.x partnerships, granting couples rights including the ability to visit a partner in hospital and rent a property together.
In a landmark ruling last year, a court in northern Sapporo said Japan’s failure to recognize same-s.e.x marriage is unconstitutional, a verdict hailed by campaigners as a major victory.
But Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been cautious on the possibility of any legislative changes at the national level to recognize same-s.e.x unions.
Taiwan is currently the only place in Asia with marriage equality, having taken the unprecedented step of legalizing same-s.e.x unions in 2019.
Source: AFP
In other news – Minnie Dlamini’s alleged boyfriend who she cheated on Quinton Jones with revealed
South African media personality Minnie Dlamini’s cheating partner is rumored to be Edwin Sodi who is famously known as a flamboyant SA businessman.
During the early hours of Tuesday, it was reported that the TV personality refused to sign divorce papers presented by her estranged husband, Quinton Jones. Quinton is said to have caught Minnie cheating with another man and he’s also stopped his business partnership, Learn More
