Among thirteen, five lesbians and eight gay couples filed Japan’s first lawsuit challenging the country’s rejection of same-sex marriage on Thursday, arguing the denial violates their constitutional right to equality.
Report says, six couples holding banners saying “Marriage For All Japan” walked into Tokyo District Court to file their cases against the government, with similar cases filed by three couples in Osaka, one couple in Nagoya and three couples in Sapporo.
On Valentine’s Day, Kenji Aiba and his partner Ken Kozumi are joining Japan’s first lawsuits challenging. Aiba told he would “fight this war together with sexual minorities all around Japan.”
Chizuka Oe and Yoko Ogawa have been together for 25 years, but when they submitted their marriage registration at a Tokyo town hall they knew it would be rejected. “We were told that they cannot accept our registration because we are both women,” said Ogawa. They are now planning to take action and support other same-sex couples.
In a society where pressure for conformity is strong, many gay people hide their sexuality, fearing prejudice at home, school or work. The obstacles are even higher for transgender people in the highly gender-specific society.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ultra-conservative supporters have campaigned to restore a paternalistic society based on heterosexual marriages. The government has restarted moral education class at schools to teach children family values and good deeds.
“Whether to allow same-sex marriage is an issue that affects the foundation of how families should be in Japan, which requires an extremely careful examination,” Abe said in a statement last year.
The Supreme Court last month upheld a law that effectively requires transgender people to be sterilized before they can have their gender changed on official documents.
“Many people don’t even think of a possibility that their neighbors, colleagues or classmates may be sexual minorities,” said Mizuho Fukushima, a lawyer and an expert on gender and human rights issues.
Japan’s constitution stipulates that “marriage shall be only with the mutual consent of both sexes” and the government says this means same-sex marriage is “not foreseen” in the constitution or civil law.
>Juthy Saha
