Tokyo authorities will recognize same-sex relationships from November, with the Japanese capital becoming the country’s largest city to take the step, local officials said today.
Japan is the only G7 country that does not recognize same-sex marriage, and its constitution states that “marriage can only take place with the consent of both sexes.”
In recent years, however, local authorities across the country have taken steps to recognize same-sex relationships, although this does not give them the same rights as married couples.
“We have heard the opinion of citizens over the last two months and the views (of gay couples) who have stated that they want to be recognized as partners,” said a spokesman for the Tokyo authorities.
Local authorities in the Tokyo metropolitan area will ask the city council in June to approve the revision of the existing rules, then in October they will start accepting the couple’s applications and in November they will issue the certificates.
Tokyo intends to offer homosexual couples a variety of services that have so far only concerned married couples, such as being able to apply for city-run apartments.
In 2015, Tokyo’s Shibuya suburb became the first in Japan to issue certificates to gay couples.
Many other cities have since done the same, with more than 200 now, according to organizations. This recognition gives, among other things, the right of gay couples to visit their partner in the hospital or to rent a house together.
Last year, a court in Sapporo, in the north of the country, made a historic decision, ruling that the non-recognition of same-sex marriage in Japan is unconstitutional. The decision was hailed as a great victory by many organizations.
However, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been cautious about making legislative changes at the national level in order to recognize same-sex relationships.
For more than half a century, Japan has been ruled by the right-wing, conservative Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), which is strongly opposed to the recognition of same-sex marriage.
In Asia, only Taiwan allows gay marriage from 2019.
Source: AMPE
Source: Capital
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