Japan's same-sex partnerships expand
Finland's conversion therapy ban stalls, and the Emmys honor the gays
Over at the Los Angeles Blade, I have a wrap up of last night’s Emmy Awards, looking at the LGBT winners and history-makers.
There’s also my Out in the World column, which looks at stories from Japan, Finland, Australia, and Tonga.
Japan: At the beginning of the month, four more prefectures introduced same-sex partnership registries – Fukushima, Yamaguchi, Niigata, and Shima – bringing the total to 30/46 prefectures. The overwhelming majority of Japanese people live in these 30 prefectures, which is leading activists to call on the national government to introduce national same-sex marriage recognition.
Meanwhile, dates have been announced for rulings in several appeals of same-sex marriage cases around the country – all of these cases found the ban on same-sex marriage to be a “state of unconstitutionality”:
Sept 26 – Tokyo High Court will hold its first hearing in an appeal of the second case brought challenging the ban on same-sex marriage.
Oct 30 – Tokyo High Court will rule on an appeal of the first same-sex marriage challenge
Nov 5 – Nagoya High Court appeal ruling
Dec 13 – Fukuoka High Court appeal ruling
There are also pending court hearings in Hokkaido and Osaka
Meanwhile, CNN has a rather sloppy report on the state of same-sex marriage in Asia, suggesting that progress on the continent is stalling. It suggests Japan, India, and South Korea are the next likeliest marriage countries, due to their longstanding traditions of democracy and rule of law. I’d throw Singapore on that list too, and possibly Cambodia and Vietnam, assuming that we’re taking the view of a decade or more. The article includes a map of same-sex marriage countries that pointedly excludes Mexico for incorrect reasons and miscounts the number of European countries with equal marriage, possibly not counting Malta and Liechtenstein.
Mexico: There’s a little bit of tension that Mexico could lose its status as a country with nationwide marriage equality next week. That’s because Guanajuato state only has it by gubernatorial decree, and that decree expires on Sept 24, when the current governor leaves office. So far, his successor hasn’t committed to renewing the decree, but she is also the person who signed the original decree in his place, so in all likelihood, she does. This is all the more reason why the four states that haven’t yet codified marriage equality absolutely should – the others are Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, and Chiapas.
Finland: A citizen’s initiative to ban conversion therapy appears dead in the water despite having the backing of a majority of parliament, because half the governing coalition are far-right parties that are opposed to LGBT rights.
Australia: Western Australia’s state government says it won’t be able to pass legislation to ban conversion therapy until after the 2025 state elections, despite promising to do it in 2022.
India: The National Medical Commission has rescinded a course syllabus that inaccurately described homosexuality and lesbianism as sexual offences just two weeks after it was issued.
DR Congo: Death sentences have surged since the government announced the end of a 20-year moratorium in March.
Meanwhile, in the States
An anti-LGBT activist is behind the latest successful push to get major US corporations to drop DEI initiatives and end cooperation with the Human Rights Campaign.
Colorado: A federal court has upheld the state’s ban on conversion therapy.
New Jersey: The gay Republican running for US Senator is crying foul because Garden State Equality has endorsed his straight Democrat opponent Andy Kim over him. Let’s make something clear: It doesn’t matter that a Republican is gay and favors same-sex marriage and the Equality Act, if putting him in office makes Mitch McConnell majority leader. That would allow Republicans to appoint conservative anti-LGBT judges and pass all sorts of harmful laws with or without his vote.