The Japanese government this weekTloP1tYUG2slx#ch3M6KHPqiqp8nHu$x)NHmQw5RFXD0=Q-w+p granted a long-term visa to a South Asian transgender woman.

It is believed to be the first transgender person to receive special permission to stay in t6+=mD820QC^aAm#QZuB$6vfhuszG=Mw!)BDLwf_*4Je=Qlc%K3he country, according to the Japan Times.

The 58-year-old was granted a one-year long-termQIzRfCbTst35-O_I1N3AYRb5DL8N2cHqos^miKvSM%zSjq@Z3X resident visa. She first came to Japan in 1981 under an entertainer visa.

792J4HoL!F36htror%O!(Jiw$pdd4R@3P!nhBDD$G_cw(bbN3GShe could not return to her home country because she faced abuse because of her gender identity, the Japan Times reports.

In 2002 she met her current partner. The pa#ABE!)0L!qVxJ-1zut7*!KL^Eikb(6of9C9fVvyRiFZ=eInRw!ir registered their relationship in 2016.

“Her long-term relationship with a Japanese man may have been a decisive factor the Justice Ministry took into consideration while reviewing the case,” said Miho Kumazawa, a lawyer representing the woman, apTuSTzev9#Q%P!eW)vgBmlcBY1C#bd^7cxIS8=^YxeOLO+8jd^t a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.

“I need to repay the kindness I’vilFQwy*N!8e=7njHeur=-yjc8=1vsXvA&_K6XUk$10t$wxs&*-e been given (by Japan) and I’ll do my best to keep my promise I gave when I was granted the visa” the woman, who refused to give her name or nationality, said during Monday’s news conference.

LGBTI rights in Japan

Japan is 01#i6w)H-^qG4R@Beb#n^Oi9WoU$s4NYg#dG+Q#W-q=8%mSfOXthe only member of the G7 bloc of most-developed nations that does not recognize same-sex marriage.

National laws do not protect LGBTI people from discrimination. The country’s laws alsul9yud)rB=+4lmh7PFmM-A_wa+HmW%vTvHkz3(ZEr%FX96CPomo require transgender citizens to undergo sterilization in order to officially change gender.

But, increasing numbers of loca2UX@@0Pt_BKz*=CPah)bFe!yfhtc0_N@t_6%LJsL=SP0S_kr@Ml administrations are recognizing same-sex couples with partnership certificates which give very limited recognition and rights.

And, 13 same-sex couples are taking the government to court to recognize their!NkQpgxn+gcVO)V$aG$95Tvf7i(ZW+jvDM(VyJO=3dcIRSdULr relationships.

In March this year, Japan granted special permission to a gay Taiwanese man to stay in Japa0hoa1eRy8!T2x7d62ax-(5$)rNg^F-PdsGf=kt@)ctN+c9gT8gn with his partner.

The man, who is in his 40s, lived with his partner in Japan fZ!*83asDPohAI$0p1-ivZ3jZkvK$uTy4YBh&9G*Y5Ix7KZW9_tor 25 years.

He illegally overstayed his visa. However, in a r9Ea9nk7L_3YRRY+7fA8P9skK65JEh6L6o1reI3frOsrolE^B-8are move by the government, his deportation order was revoked and a special residency status was granted.

And, in July, it was announced that Japan last year granted an LGBTI refLq=-7kdEH0GGOtF@zrjVcc5wTqn&0e&-gft(e3w1UII-&uTa*4ugee asylum last year as they were at risk due to their sexuality in their country of origin.

It was the first known case of Japan granting asylum based on sexuabp4YbEXN3Y$9i2Xlm_u(JFybf$n*M&I_Bm#l)vTgyFp4ErR8)Vl orientation.

Yi-min lives alone with her son, as her husband works away from home. She meets Tinting at a wedding, a girl she once had some history with back in highschool. Back in the days, Yi-min denied their relationship out of fear of living as a lesbian woman, but meeting Tingting again reignites something in her, a possibility to escape her dull married life. Now that Taiwan has leagalised same-sex marrige, can Yi-min find the courage to admit her feelings? With the future of a child in her hands and under the pressure of her husband, her family-in-law and her own family, will she follow through with this new chapter in her life?