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Meanwhile, an ongoing series of activities is adding momentum to the quest to change Japan’s policies around LGBT issues. These same critics also feel that the certificates are a Band-Aid to relieve pressures on the national government to make significant changes to same-sex marriage laws. Critics say that the certificates lack legal authority and only apply within the municipalities in which they are issued, meaning they are little more than symbolic. Proponents of the certificate system argue that it marks a new LGBT-aware era in Japanese society and could lead to more significant changes, such as national same-sex marriage recognition.
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Among other changes, the certificates ask that hospitals grant access to same-sex partners and provide protection for transgender people sometimes turned away from voting booths. The process was replicated in other municipalities throughout Japan, and roughly 130 municipal governments now offer some form of same-sex partnership certificate to residents who wish to apply.
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That changed in 2015 when a group of activists successfully lobbied Tokyo’s Shibuya district to become the first Japanese municipality to begin issuing “partnership certificates” to same-sex couples who wished to marry but had no legal recourse to do so. Until the past decade, such barriers went mostly unchallenged, and LGBT people in Japan remained mainly on the fringes of society, with very few people speaking out publicly about these issues. It is not illegal, for example, for someone in a same-sex relationship to be fired from their job, to be denied an apartment, or to be refused access to their hospitalized partner.
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Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is banned in some cities, including Tokyo, though many LGBT people report being afraid to disclose their identity for fear of personal or professional repercussions. While opinion polls in recent years indicate high levels of support for same-sex marriage among the Japanese public, a 2020 survey of more than 10,000 LGBT people in Japan found that 38 per cent had experienced harassment or assault. LGBT people experience a range of social and legal challenges in contemporary Japan, the only G7 country that does not legally recognize same-sex unions. The Pride House at the Tokyo Olympics became a focal point for the hotly-debated issue of LGBT rights in Japan. An uphill battle for LGBT equality in Japan Pride Houses have appeared at sporting events from the FIFA World Cup to the Hockey World Championships, in locations from North and South America to Europe and Asia, including most recently at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. Instead, the movement continued growing with a total of 18 international Pride Houses to date.
The Pride House experiment was a well-attended success in Vancouver and Whistler, but it did not end after the 2010 Olympic Games. (L-R) Dean Nelson, Blake Skjellerup, and Ken Coolen at Pride House Whistler in 2010. Nelson, a social entrepreneur and the Executive Producer of the successful Gay Whistler Ski Week, called the venue ‘Pride House.’ It was particularly significant for citizens of countries where homosexuality remains illegal, including 13 countries where the ‘crime’ of being gay is punishable by death. When Nelson learned that the Olympic Games were coming to Vancouver in 2010, he reached out to contacts at the Resort Municipality of Whistler and Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) with an idea that had never been tried before: Create a safe and welcoming venue at the Vancouver Olympics specifically dedicated to LGBT inclusion in sports. From Vancouver with love: A decade of Pride House As Beijing prepares to host the Olympics on February 4, many have wondered whether the government of China’s recent crackdown on LGBT representation means that inclusivity promoted at other recent Games will be banned at the 2022 Winter Olympics. The journey of inclusion has included many ups and downs, and it is far from over. Since the first Pride House at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, Pride Houses have been established at major sporting events in a dozen countries, attracting more than 50,000 visitors. Pride Houses are venues dedicated to LGBT athletes, coaches, fans, and allies during major sports events. The idea led to the concept of ‘Pride House,’ modelled after traditional Olympic hospitality houses. More than a decade ago, Vancouverite Dean Nelson put forth a radical idea: Support local communities in advancing LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) inclusion and combat homophobia and transphobia at mega sporting events worldwide.