Translated material
Instead of a wedding
Japan is one of the most industrial and technologically developed countries in the world and the only country is a G7 participant, in which same -sex marriages are still prohibited. Although there are legislative movements in this direction, LGBT people are still faced with discrimination. In order to “tie the bonds of marriage”, couples arrange “photographs”: they dress up in traditional kimono or formal costumes and arrange carefully thought out photo shoots - but hide these photos, as they face discrimination and stigmatizae even from relatives and closest friends. Photo station "Cold".
In Japan, gay marks are still prohibited, but this does not prevent lovers from holding traditional wedding photo shoots. These are
For eight months, the photographer Kim Jung-Hun was filming the same-sex “photosadeb” in Tokyo and Jokogam. The heroes agreed to shoot only on the condition that their faces would be hidden and names would not be mentioned.
Before they were able to find Onestyle photo studio in Iokogam, a 40-year-old office worker and her 35-year-old partner for a long time sought a place for the “photoword”. Many studios refused them not being located to LGBTK+-params.
“Not everyone, including my relatives and friends, know about our relations. We thought that this was a good idea - to leave a tangible memory only for us two, ”says one of the women.
Only after conducting the “photoword”, women applied for partnerships in the city council.
The partnership agreements that gay params in Japan were made out of 2015- one of the first steps towards equal rights of hetero- and homosexual relations in the country. Today, about 240 municipalities throughout Japan, in which about 80% of the total population lives, issue certificates confirming the partnership.
At the same time, in Japan, “partnerships” are not fully equated with marriages - that is, they do not provide the same rights as the official heterosexual union. For example, people with such certificates cannot apply for the inheritance of a partner's property if a will was not issued for them. They cannot make custody of partners' children and even in the hospital they may not be allowed to their loved ones, since they are not family members.
Despite the fact that polls show that the majority in society positively relate to the legalization of same-sex marriages, a generational gap is observed in the views of gay brothers. For example, according to the Fuji TV channel survey, 91.4% of people under the age of 30 advocate the legalization of same -sex marriages. At the same time, less than half of people from 70 years and older support this idea.
“My father was hostile to same -sex marriages,” says the girl who played the “photo trip”. - Therefore, I was nervous and was afraid to say that I live with a woman. But when I admitted, he accepted this fact without hesitation. ”
The girl says that she promised to give her father a photo from her “Wedding”.
A 53-year-old office employee held a “photo trip” with his 45-year-old partner in the chapel, where they exchanged rings, in Iokogam. He believes that the attitude to LGBTK+ is changing, but society has yet to “go a long way”.
“I don’t know when this time will come, but I think that one day LGBTK marks will become so ordinary that we will not even need to use the term itself,” the man says.
Changes in the legislation in relation to LGBTK+ in Japan are slow. Only in 2023, the government adopted a law on the fight against the discrimination of LGBTK+people-in many ways it was adopted due to pressure on the government both within the country and abroad.
In recent years, activists have filed claims in different courts of Japan, demanding to cancel the ban on same -sex marriages. While some instances refer to the Constitution, in which the union of two people of different sexes is considered marriage, individual judges indicate a limitation of human rights in a similar wording.
In order not to miss the main materials of the "cold", subscribe to our social networks!
Photo: KIM Kyung-Hoon / Reuters Author: editors of "Cold"