Tokyo, the capital of Japan, announced that it would introduce a 'same-sex partnership system' that would recognize sexual minority couples within next year.
According to the Asahi Shimbun report today (9th), on the 7th local time, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said at a plenary session of the city council that "next year, we will introduce a same-sex partnership system that publicly recognizes same-sex couples."
In June, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly unanimously adopted a petition for recognition of partnership submitted by a LGBT support group, but this is the first time that a specific time has been mentioned.
Governor Yuriko explained, "We want to promote understanding of various genders by creating an environment that alleviates the difficulties faced by LGBT people in life."
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to review public housing and medical services so that LGBTQ couples can use public services like ordinary couples.
The word partnership first appeared in Copenhagen's Copenhagen Deputy Mayor Tom Alber's speech in 1989 and is known as the 'alternative system of same-sex marriage'. In general, regardless of the couple's gender, they recognize each other as spouses (partners), and it is a concept that guarantees the couple's rights in a limited way in terms of social security, taxes, and housing benefits such as inheritance rights and health insurance.
Japanese society does not recognize same-sex marriage as in Korea, but starting with Shibuya-ku and Setagaya-ku in Tokyo in 2015, 130 municipalities can certify same-sex couples or accept vows.
In March, the Sapporo District Court in Japan said, "Sexual orientation cannot be selected or changed at the will of a person" in relation to a lawsuit titled 'Freedom of marriage for all'. "Not receiving is discrimination," he said, but he stuck to the decision that "same-sex marriage is against the Constitution."
Meanwhile, in Korea, a similar 'Life Companion Act' has been under discussion for several years. The Life Companion Act is a bill that supplements the current situation in which family regulations are trapped in the framework of 'marriage and blood ties', and various extra-legal families, such as foster families, twilight living together, and same-sex couples, are pushed out of medical, housing, and social services or become 'non-existent'. is.
The Life Companion Act, drafted in 2014, defines an adult who lives with, supports, and cooperates with a specific person as a 'life partner' and provides for treatment equivalent to that of a spouse.
As Tokyo, Japan's move to recognize partnerships has been quickly decided, it is attracting attention whether it will have an impact on related institutional changes in Asian countries in the future.
This is a 'news pick'.
(Photo = Getty Images Korea)