Negotiating same-sex partnership in a ‘tolerant’ state

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes how SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) rights and same-sex partnership are framed and discussed at the macro-level of state discourse as well as the micro-level of individual negotiation of partnership in Japan. Drawing on but reformulating Puar’s concept of homonationalism, we found that the Japanese state projects a progressive national identity that consists ironically in denying full citizenship to sexual and gender minorities. It invokes an alleged history of tolerance in Japan to frame its ‘unique’ and ‘superior’ approach to SOGI rights. It is an approach inextricably bound to the heteronormative institution of marriage and family as a system of ruling. Arguments in favour of same-sex marriage reproduce the same narrative of tolerance, while naturalizing marriage and removing it from its sociolegal context and biologizing sexual orientation. Individuals contemplating or registering partnerships likewise reinforce the sanctity of marriage, even without embracing it. We suggest that a thorough discussion of marriage in its legal framework and historical context is necessary to develop the critical potential of same-sex partnership. We also advocate exploring intra-Asian influences in future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Japan
• marriage equality
• homonationalism

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Following Kong (2019), ‘the West’ referenced in this paper means ‘the social and political constructs of the Anglo-American cultures and traditions of North America, Australia and New Zealand, and of Western Europe, countries/regions that are usually referred to collectively as the Global North or as “the metropoles”’(p.1921).

2. The research reported here is supported by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research) (Grant number: 19H01571) (Principal Investigator: Diana Khor).

3. The uniqueness discourse LDP adopts can be traced to the so-called ‘Nihonjin-ron’, a body of work emphasizing the uniqueness of Japan (see Befu, 2001, for a critical review).

4. The text of Article 24 of the Japanese Constitution is as follows: ‘Marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained through mutual cooperation with the equal rights of husband and wife as a basis. With regard to choice of spouse, property rights, inheritance, choice of domicile, divorce and other matters pertaining to marriage and the family, laws shall be enacted from the standpoint of individual dignity and the essential equality of the sexes.’ (The Constitution of Japan, n.d.). The LDP proposed amendment adds a description of the family as a ‘natural’ and ‘fundamental’ unit of society, in which mutual help is ‘mandatory’. It also removes the reference to the ‘choice of spouse’ and ‘choice of domicile’ from the second clause, and adds ‘family’, ‘support’ (as in supporting a dependent) and ‘guardianship’ (Sugiura, 2013).

5. The Gender Identity Disorder Special Cases Act was passed in 2003, relatively early for a nation making little progress in gender and SOGI rights. However, the requirements to be fulfilled before one can change one’s ‘gender’ (seibetsu) in the family registration system are stringent, including sterilization (to ensure that a transman would not become pregnant, for example) and medical diagnosis. It is not difficult to see how the law is devised to ensure no disruption to the heteronormative system of marriage and family (see Taniguchi, 2013 for a critical discussion of the law.)

6. This analysis draws from data in two separate funded projects. One is a comparative study of the legal recognition of same-sex partnership in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan with fund provided by the Sumitomo Foundation (158,038)(Principle Investigator: Denise Y.S. Tang). Interview participants in this project are given psuedonyms. The other one is from a study focusing on the Shibuya partnership certificate and planned by the Shibuya Municipal Government Office but which involved researchers from JSPS Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research project (16H03709)(Principal Investigator: Saori Kamano). Interview participants are given codes to represent their gender identity (F for female, and M for male) and numbers to identify each participant. Details of methodology and description of the samples are given in Tang et al. (2020) and Kamano et al. (2018).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the JSPS KAKENHI (Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research) [Grant numbers: JP16H03709, JP19H1571]; Sumitomo Foundation Grants for Japan-related Research [Grant number: 158038].

Notes on contributors

Diana Khor

Diana Khor has conducted a diversity of projects related to gender, and is currently working on a project on same-sex partnership and kin relations in Hong Kong and Japan. Through her research and writing, she is committed to engaging with, while at the same time decentring, universalized knowledge of, gender and sexuality produced in the context of ‘the West’, and developing theories and concepts grounded in Asian experiences.

Saori Kamano

Saori Kamano has been involved in a number of surveys on SOGI in the Japanese context. She was a member of a research team that conducted the first nationwide survey on attitudes towards sexual and gender minorities. Her latest project is a population-based study on SOGI, with the aim of accumulating data on the effect of SOGI on various realms of life. In addition to surveys, she has also engaged in ethnographic research, conducting interviews with same-sex couples to explore how the socio-legal context affects their relationships and life chances.