Tokyo Government Issues Partnerships to Same Sex Couples

Tokyo Government Issues Partnerships to Same Sex Couples
Waving In The Light, Raphael Renter via Unsplash, 2021

Aysu Amaha Öztürk

Japan and Human Rights Researcher 

Global Human Rights Defence

On November 1st, the Tokyo government issued its first partnership certificate to a same sex couple. This does not mean that couples have the same status as heterosexual married couples, however, it provides some of the services that married couples get, such as housing, child-care, and healthcare. (Gunia, 2022)

It is envisioned that this partnership certificate will lead to two things. The first is that it will help fight anti-LGBTI discrimination in Japan, since Tokyo makes up around 11% of Japan’s population. As people will be able to obtain these certificates and use them in public spaces, public officials will no longer be able to discriminate against these couples on the basis that they are not recognized as a couple. (AFP, 2022) The second is that Tokyo issuing such certificates will advocate for same-sex marraiage to be legal in the country. An official from the Human Rights Watch stated that the majority of Japan issuing these certificates will push the government to change its stance of marriage equality. (Gunia, 2022)

Legal cases in Japan regarding same sex couples have given mixed signals regarding the country’s stance of LGBTQ rights. Regions have given different decisions on whether official marriages excluding same-sex couples violates the equality clause of the Constitution. However, it is no doubt that same-sex marriage not being recognized as legal violates Article 2 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a covenant which Japan has ratified in 1979,  which guarantees non-discrimination and Article 26 of the ICCPR which guarantees equality before the law. 

Sources and further reading:

Gunia A. (2022, November 1). ‘Tokyo Has Started Issuing Same-Sex Partnership Certificates. Here’s Whats That Means for Human Rights in Japan.’ TIME. https://time.com/6227055/tokyo-same-sex-partnership-certificates/

Agence France Presse. (2022, November 1). ‘Tokyo issues long-awaited same-sex partnership certificates.’ The Guardian. 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/01/tokyo-issues-same-sex-partnership-certificates-amid-marriage-equality-debate