News / Sep. 12, 2019
Same-sex couples in Kumamoto City will be able to[email protected]$S7-4C7f^Ei81udPjZE0Ztao7)rj!l$rAL9ReDOvR move into public housing using the prefecture’s partnership certificates for LGBT people, local media has reported.
In April, Kumamoto joined a number of local governments in Japan in issuing same-sex partnership certiGq1w^dNCfz#OGaTt7ni%a(yj%OmaCl&iI-Gts#5+%_REv8co%Bficates or oaths.
They offer limited rights such as public housing, hospital visitation rights, the right to make medical decisions for the paS7n+Wbx3Nug3N*xU6DBVugN#NOxBTD%K6uw^Jk6(AC^bWTOzB1rtner, and special benefits given by employers.
Kumamoto City representatives this week confirmed same-sex couples would be able to move into municipal housing, according to Yomiuri Shimbun. The same-sex couples will be listed as “relatives” in the housing documentations.
AboutqsYf5!R_ERbG%m)8BaHqp*0N+(6hNv5dLyGhBrk)PbOBsgok7l 24 local governments have now opted to issue certificates to LGBT couples.
In July, Ibaraki Prefecture became the first entire prefecture to offer certificates&e%kYu^EYx^q#Wjvw%^O471DPitM-YPSCH458Rs#yOsNC19q$#. With a population of three million, Ibaraki Prefecture is also the largest municipality to recognize same-sex couples.
Conservative JaSvh)%pB_&vO^*$wl_%U$%[email protected]&)0C&aA=3emUcodpan does not allow same-sex marriage.
But, since 2016, local municipalities have been providing couples with limited recognition in government hospRVVPF_BaSy+^j^TZ$-nhvDznqarML2QY9(X72cTLwVBTrNojcZitals and housing.
Shibuya Ward and Toshima Ward both enacted R2St7)Y!$qr_7TE^2OwxmB-2qw4nnYih$kr#ylpQ&J%0x!NqmCordinances, which means they were voted through by the local government.
Sapporo became the firA39lZvkyydHVYjDseZrTDKgU#BGGF74LFWg#BQjK^YoHU%EjC=st city in the country to recognize same-sex relationships in 2017.
In the first five moX%pI&*[email protected]_gbV^$uOw6zS%NRX&Wgy!VuM+_+kKy3nths of 2019 alone, the number of local governments with a ‘partnership system’ has grown from 9 to 22, according to the Tokyo Review.
LGBTI research group Nijiiro Diversity has found 426 couplezm6m4*[email protected](A)o=Oay^+efcC-HI%!vJ*oQns acquired a partnership document as of 17 April this year.
But, considering tens of millions of people live across the municipalities offering the ce(!nE%mx)6TSxoo*G0&YHnL)KRbmtDPajYTquE_9#VQDb*p8=bGrtificates, very few LGBTI couples have registered.
The national government in Tokyo has made no moves to implement a country-wide registration. Japan is the only country in the G7 not to recognize same-sex unionsRS&q=yhj(n3E4wUSYXW*YqJTzkM55gYGqwTmkBa0K0-!s&7SdD.
But, in recent months, there have been significant moves towards equal marriage in Japani&54lx%[email protected]&RHuUZ=x$iH#b_H%k7Y!Cq.
Twodzw*X$2uUl^1svy7sIK-=8^Z%iJ(26=aio!G&heR09QTQ4B8FV courts in Japan in April held initial hearings in landmark legal action against the government’s failure to recognize same-sex marriages.
Courts in Tokyo and Sapporo heard arguments from plaintiffs suing the government to recognize their same-sex relationships. Thtb01%e7hY0t9*jCRo7**c7BGfoKtD+&k0ItNjOmkLGez4TWC$Girteen same-sex couples in Japan filed lawsuits in four district courts against the government in February.
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