About 3,000 people marched in a gay pride parade in Tokyo yesterday as calls grow for Japan to legalize same-sex marriage after a lesbian couple held a symbolic wedding ceremony.
The crowd, mainly from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and their supporters, as well as sex workers, paraded through the entertainment and shopping district of Shibuya in the capital.
Waving rainbow-colored flags and banners, foreign and Japanese campaigners marched in colorful carnival and kimono-clad geisha outfits.
Photo: EPA
The annual parade came a week after a lesbian couple tied the knot in front of about 80 relatives and friends in Shibuya, although their marriage is not legally recognized.
The Shibuya district council voted earlier this year to issue “partnership” certificates to gay couples, the first such recognition of same-sex unions in Japan. Other municipalities are now considering doing the same.
The certificates carry only symbolic significance, since the Japanese constitution identifies marriage as a union based on mutual consent of the parties from “both sexes.”
“We simply want to be with a loved one, but [the law] denies our idea. We are frustrated and don’t know what to do,” 33-year-old parade co-organizer Fumino Sugiyama said
While Japan is largely tolerant of homosexuality, there is no specific legal protection for gay people. They complain that they might be prevented from visiting sick loved ones in hospitals or refused a tenancy because their relationship is not recognized.
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