The city of Tokyo will recognize same-sex unions, announced Tuesday, December 7, the governor of the Japanese capital Yuriko Koike, a new symbolic step while gay marriage does not exist nationally in Japan. “In response to the wishes of the people of Tokyo and those affected by this subject, we will be making preparations to recognize same-sex unions,” by early 2023, she said.
The Tokyo district of Shibuya was the first local authority in the country to offer union certificates to people of the same sex, in 2015. Other districts of the capital and several departments of the Archipelago followed. Around 100 Japanese local authorities currently offer such certificates.
On Twitter, the activist organization Marriage for All Japan welcomed Mme Koike, while recalling that the scope of these certificates is symbolic and calling on the government to ” to hurry up “ to recognize gay marriage.
Unions “not provided for” by the Constitution
Indeed, in the absence of national legislation, the usefulness of these local documents remains very limited, beyond sometimes simplifying certain procedures such as renting a shared apartment or being authorized to visit a spouse in the hospital. Very few gay couples have obtained such certificates so far.
Japan is the latest G7 country not to recognize marriage for all, although a majority of the population is now in favor, according to polls.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (PLD, right-wing conservative) has been slowing down on the issue for years, arguing that same-sex unions are not “Not planned” by the Constitution, which has never been amended since its entry into force in 1947.
Having come to power in early October, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is also reluctant. In September he said he had “Not reached the point of accepting” an evolution of the law on this point.
A dozen homosexual couples in Japan have since 2019 initiated legal actions against the state to obtain legal recognition of their unions. In March of this year, they obtained a first victory when a court in Sapporo (northern Japan) ruled that the non-recognition of same-sex marriage was against the Constitution, because it guarantees equality. of all citizens before the law.