News / Sep. 12, 2019
Same-sex couples in Kumamoto City will be able to move into public housing usingh37JF!)r-6*Z-i1RPl$^ALw3LFgM#jz*AHOdL7%9rjhoSM2BsN the prefecture’s partnership certificates for LGBT people, local media has reported.
In April, Kumam-Omf7Zq0oyNl3ot*gCuAmvWcY=uyB%zVz^^LPyV#sC1)Maa$mToto joined a number of local governments in Japan in issuing same-sex partnership certificates or oaths.
They offer limited rights such as public housing, hospital visitation rights,kC%3#XeQD7xepL2cb3aTNIdhctY2#H=I8@W4sWchs6wgPSyAe* the right to make medical decisions for the partner, 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.
About 24 local governments have now opted to issue certificates tD1$%DhBEokutM!^DoCo1PlEBt6-LG+KA9Us%zePA2-LOrZ71jUo LGBT couples.
In July, Ibaraki Prefecture became the first entire prefecture to offer certificates. With a population of three million, Ibaraki PrefecturewoH4lUJydIUeuLB9vXwXi31$HjnyHQRHI((i5Lzf6lip6*kp2B is also the largest municipality to recognize same-sex couples.
Conservative JapanDhjXCL627$0bTY9XE$3^9hZQ(zqdIQ5=Di$WZc=_Wj3wh)(WPi does not allow same-sex marriage.
But, since 2016, local municipalities have been providing couples with limited recognition in government hospitals e)ozL^EzzC*PV8SPd54MUsrqIHs=d)qvb@*XUa556@EOzUrbmIand housing.
Shibuya Ward and Toshima Ward both enacted ordinances, *&IDFDa8+rGA2MFAv45TNGYs%FV^U_R_vwF&=R(E$9H#4CRv@=which means they were voted through by the local government.
Sapporo became the first city in the country to recognize same-sex relationshipsQTv@JfK%qTc50eosGiq2PSH53&s_L9^7LAi&Z3TvRFWW^Ub@p( in 2017.
In the first five months of 2019 alone, the number of local governments with a ‘partnership system’ has grown fromezOfvGeu*FT#KidlR4r6GL)(LtlTR3=(-fH+cEeTKHwTo8qPRe 9 to 22, according to the Tokyo Review.
LGBTI research group Nijiiro Diversity has found 426 couples acquired a partnership document as of 17 April thifAI+REPc4cf8D8bv_+z&w!Db$p5dt$H5W-MkdSKZZOhEC$+&(ts year.
But,gyEovwrz&fJvUBUaaUojS=U7nb%6y(RfGe8_mrgw$0YpA+U7ZM considering tens of millions of people live across the municipalities offering the certificates, very few LGBTI couples have registered.
The national government in Tokyo has made no moves to implement a country-wzD+p+48B55HSEd_&L-Uebt5qfO747mrYu*t#!7FNQP7QY(JQaAide registration. Japan is the only country in the G7 not to recognize same-sex unions.
But, in recent months, there YcoE_oaV6SeVVuL9HNFiHnfLR_bGaZXxrv&TVXCDbp+dI)tpWzhave been significant moves towards equal marriage in Japan.
Two courts in Japan in April held ini+xUt)Cq8+ijS)U0Jnilk7o262nH4s_w&Fe28r)@%tUXxEg21WMtial hearings in landmark legal action against the government’s failure to recognize same-sex marriages.
Courts in Tokyo and Sapporo heard arguments from plaintiffs suing the government to recognize their same-sex relationships. Thirteen same-sex c)jlYFE(jvvDg4y$Z!)r5L32_mPiS5jtG3s#+&yCL#o5gMRO--xouples in Japan filed lawsuits in four district courts against the government in February.
