2018:06:25 On June 25th, it was reported that the surviving family of a law school student who had committed a suicide after being outed by another student reached a settlement. (The date of the settlement is January 15th.) The law school student aged 25 (Mr. A) threw himself from the university’s building after being exposed as gay by another student(Mr.Z) to a group of 10 peers on messaging app called Line. Mr.A told Mr.Z that he had feelings for Mr.Z in April 2015. At that moment when Mr.A talked about his feelings for Mr.Z, Mr.Z responded “I can’t be your
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2018:06:22 On June 22nd, Nagoya city announced its plan to start issuing same-sex partnership certificates. Mayor Takashi Kawamura showed his positive attitude toward official recognition of same-sex partners in the city council this June. “We shouldn’t tolerate discrimination against same-sex partners. I have already made up my mind to start a same-sex partnership system,” the mayor said in response to the question asked by Councilor Asami Nishiyama regarding whether or not same- sex couples should be allowed to live together in city-owned apartments. According to Chunichi Shimbun, Nagoya city is to conduct a survey on public awareness of sexual minority
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2018:06:13 On June 13th, Mayor Tomihisa Taue announced the city’s council is to give serious consideration of establishing a same-sex partnership system by the beginning of next April. Councilor Akiko Ikeda asked the mayor to establish a same-sex partnership system in the city and he agreed to it. “Such system is one of the effective ways for individual diversity to be respected. It also helps LGBTQ people live in the city with no barriers,” said the mayor. There are no local municipalities recognizing same-sex partnerships in Nagasaki Prefecture. The city is going to make an introduction plan of the same-
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A support group, consisting of LGBTQs and their allies who ask for recognition of same-sex partnerships, submitted a petition to 27 local municipalities. Those 27 local municipalities include 13 wards in Tokyo such as Shinjuku and Daito Wards and Hachioji City and Mitaka City in Tokyo, Yokohama City in Kanagawa Prefecture, 7 cities in Saitama Prefecture and Abashiri City in Hokkaido. (Please look at the end of this article for more details.) The group prepared the petition early and submitted it to be in time for the upcoming councils that will be held in June. On June 4th, the support
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When Ms. Katsuma attended her high school’s reunion party in December, 2015, she heard her teacher saying “the woman who received the first same- sex partnership certificate in Shibuya Ward used to go to this school.” After the party, she was looking at her facebook and saw the woman in the picture one of her friends uploaded there. “I know her. She and I went to the same high school,” she left the comment. A few days later, her friend introduced the woman, Ms. Masuhara, to Ms. Katsuma. To Ms. Masuhara, Ms. Katsuma was the person she had looked up
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On May 9th, Nakano Ward, TOKYO, announced its plan to officially recognize same-sex partnerships. “Nakano Ward Partnership Oath” will start from this August. Same-sex couples are also able to apply for the certificates that ensure they decide their own medical treatment and how their property is managed. According to Wataru Ishizaka, an openly gay ward councillor of Nakano Ward, here is the details of “Nakano Partnership Oath.” “Anyone aged 20 or older who lives in Nakano or plans to move to Nakano can apply for the partnership certificates with the submission of a written oath, Voluntary Guardianship Contract and Statement
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20180507 Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2018 was held in Yoyogi Park on May 5th and 6th and ended on a high note. This year’s Tokyo Rainbow Pride was a little different. They could secure more space and set a big gate in front of the entrance of Yoyogi Park. As many as two hundred corporations, NPOs, embassies, and bars etc set their booths.(There has never been more than 200 booths in the history of Tokyo Rainbow Pride.) On 5th, many popular performers, such as Tokyo Gegegay, Himitsunootome(a MtF idol unit),and Kiyotaka (an openly gay singer) came up to the stage and
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