Following up on the analysis post I wrote last week, the 13 gay couples have now filed their lawsuits against the Japanese government in an attempt to have same sex marriage legalized. While the previous article focused on the legal side of things, this article talks more about the less official offense against same sex marriage. It dives into how ingrained the tradition of how a family consists of a mother, father, and children is in Japanese culture. Kids even learn in school about how to build a family and the importance of building a traditional family. School is not a place for pushing values on young children. Just like religion is not a part of mose education systems, this should be treated the same. It’s also different though because this isn’t in the United States. If this was being enforced in American schools people would definitely have a problem with it but since it’s in Japan where this is just the norm, it’s just commonplace.
One couple filing a lawsuit was interviewed on their way to the Tokyo District Court. The two men have a marriage certificate and have been living together as a couple for over five years. They’ve been awaiting the day that they can finally say they are married; legally they’re just roommates. They talked about how it’s not just the principle of being able to marry like any other couple, but also about the rights that a married couple has. Currently they would not be able to have any say in medical treatment of the other person or claim them as their heir. They believe the biggest thing holding the government back from change is the strong sense of tradition within Japanese culture. Being gay is so frowned upon that most people are closeted and hiding their true selves.