Tokyo district OKs Japan’s first same-sex partner certificates
A Tokyo council voted on Tuesday to issue “partnership” certificates to gay couples, the first such recognition of same-sex unions in Japan.
Assembly members in Shibuya district — a business and shopping hub that is home to international firms and embassies — passed an ordinance that will allow their officials to start giving out the certificate as early as this summer.
“I’m happy,” said Koyuki Higashi, a gay rights campaigner who held a wedding ceremony with her female partner at Tokyo Disney Resort in 2013.
“I hope this movement will be spread across Japan and discussions on same-sex marriages will accelerate,” said Higashi, who has been living in Shibuya for four months, adding she and her partner, Hiroko Masuhara, planned to get a certificate.
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