Tokyo ward mayors call for more rights for same-sex couples
LGBTQ+ people are not afforded the same rights as heterosexual people in Japan. (Getty)
The mayors of several of Tokyo’s wards – of which there are 23 – are urging the Japanese government to give greater rights for same-sex couples.
Some wards have already allowed for same-sex couples to register their relationships in the same way as common-law couples but this does not grant them the same civil liberties and privileges as heterosexual couples who are married.
Mayor of the Suginami ward, Satoko Kishimoto, told The Japan Times that it was “essential to enshrine same-sex marriage in law” and asked that the government treat same-sex marriages the same as they do common-law marriages.
Kishimoto and the mayors of nine other wards in Tokyo submitted a request to the government earlier this month, asking it to review the rights of same-sex partners.
They pointed to health insurance coverage to dependants as one of the rights that same-sex couples have not been afforded in equal measure with heterosexual couples.
Additionally, Japan doesn’t offer discrimination protection to LGBTQ+ people, and many queer people in the country face inequalities in employment, housing, and education.
This comes after the Tokyo High Court ruled in October that not allowing same-sex couples to marry is unconstitutional, following in the footsteps of the Sapporo High Court, who also ruled the ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional in March.
At the Tokyo court, the presiding judge said that the ban was “a groundless legal discrimination based on sexual orientation” and claimed that it violates two articles of the Japanese constitution, which guarantees the right to equality and dignity regardless of sex.
Japan is currently the only G7 nation that doesn’t allow for gay marriage, even though 70% of the Japanese public supports marriage equality.
Despite the rulings, the judiciary in Japan does not have the power to overturn the existing laws surrounding marriage, as they would have to be decided by Japan’s legislative branch, known as the National Diet.
Currently, the biggest block to marriage quality in Japan is the ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party, and the Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who remains opposed to granting same-sex couples the right to marry.
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