Japan’s First Step: Shibuya Recognizing Same-Sex Marriage

 

Japan’s First Step: Shibuya Recognizing Same-Sex Marriage 

On April 1st, 2015, Shibuya ward (in Tokyo) became the first to recognize same-sex marriage. The certification of same-sex marriage will benefit couples such as housing and hospital visitations. While this district is a small part of Japan, this was a big move in IGBTQ+ rights in the country. According to Nippon.com, Shibuya mayor Kuwahara Toshitake wanted “the creation of a diverse society, where differences are accepted” (McMahon, p. 8). In the 19th century, homosexuality was normalized among samurais, priests, etc., while Europe thought that it was sinful and a crime due to its strong sense of Christianity. But in the Meiji era, Japan wanted to adopt Western ideas, and homosexuality was later seen as an illness or abnormal thing. Without expressing interest in becoming more Westernized, homophobia would not have existed in Japan, it was all because Japan wanted to superiorize themselves by relating themselves with Europeans. It is also interesting to consider how this is compared to the US. Again, the homophobia in Japan came from Europe. Still, the US was legalizing same-sex marriage nationally while Japan, a country that used to normalize homosexuality before Western influence, has just announced its first legalization of same-sex marriage in a district. The difference in scale and how things move in different countries are interesting. 

Citations:

“Tokyo Ward Shibuya Certifies Same-Sex Partnerships.” BBC News, BBC, 31 Mar. 2015, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32130599. 

“Rainbow in the East: LGBT Rights in Japan.” Nippon.Com, 1 July 2023, www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00174/?cx_recs_click=true. 

“Signs of Growing Acceptance for Japan’s Gay Community.” Nippon.Com, 1 July 2023, www.nippon.com/en/nipponblog/m00074/?cx_recs_click=true.

The Hypocrisy That Is Stopping IGBTQ+ Rights

 Karen Matsuoka

11/27/2023

Prof. Buckmire

Queer 3.0

The Hypocrisy That Is Stopping IGBTQ+ Rights

What I wanted to get to from this meme was that it should not be difficult for people to think that LGBTQ+ people deserve rights as much as straight people. The way that anti-LGBTQ+ people view LGBTQ+ people is hypocritical because they think they deserve rights but they do not think LGBTQ+ people do not deserve rights solely because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Historically, when people do not think that a certain group doesn’t deserve rights such as proper education, healthcare, freedom of speech, etc, that means they are being viewed as below everyone else. This worries me because IGBTQ+ people being seen as less than others is so normalized in our society that this will slow the process of LGBTQ+ people having rights (and it is also still hard for other minority groups to have FULL rights so it’ll take even longer for the LGBTQ+ community). This also explains the increase in anti-LGBTQ+ laws and ideas. Due to white supremacy, white abled bodied cis-men are the “norm” but because of that, anything outside of that is considered “others” and we need to continue questioning how these “norms” have affected our rights as a part of the LGBTQ+ community (like what we’ve been doing in class and beyond) and reflecting back on history to educate ourselves how we can tackle gaining more rights as a community.