MarriageForAll Japan

[takenoko]

MarriageForAll Japan is presenting their case for marriage equality to the Diet on November 26th at 1 PM *JST*. Due to the pandemic, it’ll be streamed live on YouTube. They’re using viewership to gauge how important this issue is to people, so please stream and show your support!

New York is 11 PM and Los Angeles is 8 PM for two major demarcation points. To find out when your timezone is:

*Edit* It is 11 PM and 8 PM November 25th, not the 26th! Important note!

https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/ ... 179&p3=137
Please help spread the word to make marriage legal for homosexual couples in Japan!

The link to live stream on Youtube one more time: https://youtu.be/LQp5trJVIJM

[Catastrophe]

I think trying to gauge interest by stream is poor and an attempt to try to shoot down any attempt at doing any meaningful marriage reform.

It annoys me when elected officials refuse to take a stance and do their jobs.

[Phoenix512]

We are talking about the country who is trying to get its people to have a bunch of children due to a declining birthrate. I would imagine that the last thing the Japanese government would want is to legalize same-sex marriage since they can't produce children easily. It would be nice if Japan does legalize same-sex marriage but I think what I said it's the sad reality of the situation.

[Lunagel]

Frankly a lot of marriage stuff needs to be updated anyway. Upon marriage, (except to a foreigner) one of the pair's family names must change to their partner's. Usually it's the woman's, though it's possible to change the man's in certain cases (You can register an official alias to be used if you really want to keep your old name. As a Western foreigner my name is on EVERYTHING in English letters but when I got married I registered an alias of my married name in kanji/katakana). In addition, illegitimate kids get basically diddly squat inheritance, it's really hard to adopt children, and if a woman gets divorced she better not have a kid within a year of the divorce or else it's legally registered as her ex-husband's child, regardless of actual parentage.

[takenoko]

and if a woman gets divorced she better not have a kid within a year of the divorce or else it's legally registered as her ex-husband's child, regardless of actual parentage.

Wait. Whaaaaaaat?!

[Mandalori]

Marriage is overrated anyways.

[Catastrophe]

Which might be easy to say if one has the ability to get it done at anytime. I couldn't imagine being denied something that is considered a human right in most countries based on a religious exclusion that is not my fault.

[Mandalori]

I don't see marriage as a right, but as an institution created to ensure the well-being of the children. In my point of view, peoples shouldn't get married unless they plan on having children and staying together to rise them, since, nowadays, while maybe difficult, it's not uncommon for single parent to take care of their children all alone.
It's nothing more than a glorified contract between peoples.

[Catastrophe]

Then don't get married then. That's fine.

The issue is that in many countries, marriage is considered a basic human right and is equal in stature to other human rights that are conferred. In countries that haven't ratified any same sex marriage laws, they typically don't have federal laws that outlaw discrimination against homosexuals and LGBTIQA+. Japan is one of these countries. These people are being treated differently based on something they have no control over.

In addition to that, marriage is treated more preferentially when it comes to a number social benefits. My wife and I are different nationalities, and because we are married we were able to get each other citizenship in the others country easily. If we were only in a de facto relationship, the number of steps required would be increased. We're able to use each others employment benefits much easier and being married affords the partner greater benefits for inheritance in the event of say a misplaced will.

Regardless of what anyones personal opinion on marriage is, there are a number of benefits that are conferred. Denying the ability for anyone to do so is discrimination.

[takenoko]

Are we all just not going to react to Luna's claim that an ex-husband can take the ex-wife's kid if she gives birth within a year of divorce???

[Catastrophe]

It is shit, but Japan doesn't really have a concept of joint custody either so it doesn't really surprise me.

Say for example you want a divorce because your husband is having affairs, but you've left the house and the children are still with him, judges rules by “continuity principle", in that the kids are already with him and it would be disruptive to move them around so he gets joint custody. It can work regardless of gender as well.

When I worked at the RIKEN in Yokohama, I had a friend who's wife cheated on him. When he said he wanted a divorce, she kidnapped their kids and moved back in with her parents in Saporro and the judge gave her sole custody because she already had the children.

[takenoko]

/me slaps his face