Gay couple to join legal challenge in Japan after marriage bid fails

More likely it's because one of the couple is a foreigner. Screwed up the city office as they dont know how to process it and could not include her on the family registry. (bad sarcasm)

I have a number of friends, both male and female, that were forced to get married overseas because of the laws here in Japan. Naha fortunately recognizes same sex couples, and there are a few other places in Japan as well, but it needs to be nation wide!

Good on them and it's time for some respect and equality.

Marriage is traditional, not sure why anyone would want to prevent people in a loving relationship from getting married? And being gay is perfectly natural.

Irrational fear isn't.

If two consenting adults want to marry their sex is irrelevent. Being opposed to same sex marriage, while supporting opposite sex marriage, is illogical.

Countries must offer the same rights to all citizens"regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression", said Ging Cristobal, project coordinator at OutRight Action International in Manila.

While I do support same sex marriage, I doubt that Japan's laws agree with this. Maybe the lawsuit will encourage a change in Japan's laws, but I doubt that it will be that simple.  Still, wishing them success.

Bauman, who is German and studying in Japan...she wants to get married legally so that she can get permanent residency status

Someone has to smash the koseki-based system of family law relating to marriage, divorce, and custody in Japan, and good luck to LGBT if they are trying to do it.

definitely weird law lapse ... good luck

A couple who failed in an attempt to register their same-sex marriage in Japan vowed on Friday to take legal action to force the country to legalize gay weddings.

Fail to see how taking legal action is gonna achieve anything if the law states marriage is between a man and a woman.

Ai Nakajima and Kristina Baumann, who live in Yokohama, attempted to register their marriage with local authorities on Wednesday after marrying in Germany last year.

They would have known what the law is in Japan or they wouldn't have gotten married in Germany so why didn't they just stay in Germany.

"We just want to be able to live a normal life and build a future as a family in Japan," said Nakajima. "This discrimination and unfairness is causing our lives instability, and our future is very fragile."

They are a couple not a family it takes a man and a woman to produce a baby, their future isn't fragile all they have to do is move to a Country that recognises this type of arrangement such as Germany.

A less satisfying arrangement that could potentially protect them legally might be for the partner with Japanese citizenship to adopt her partner. Adoption laws are pretty flexible here. Not ideal, I know...

It is an open secret that adoption in Japan is used as a substitute for gay marriage. When you get an single adult male adopting another single adult male (or a female female adoption), it is almost certainly a gay couple. In the cases I know personally, no one makes a big deal about this.

Bauman, who is German and studying in Japan...she wants to get married legally so that she can get permanent residency status

Dont need to get married to get PR. Next idea?

If two consenting adults want to marry their sex is irrelevent. Being opposed to same sex marriage, while supporting opposite sex marriage, is illogical.

The couple described in this story already have equal rights to marry in Japan. They are equally as free to marry a member of the opposite sex as anyone else. That's what marriage is.

The "official" divorce rate in Japan is a little less than half the US; however, in my three decades living here I have seen dozens of cases where the husband and wife no longer live together with various reasons they never filed for divorce. Japan should allow same-sex marriage. As statistics show have shown, "traditional" marriage is not doing so great anyway. If two people love each other their sex should not be relevant...

Regarding the argument that two people who love each other should be allowed to legally marry regardless of gender........

Who said the limit is two people?

The logical progression would then be that polygamists can accuse us of hatred, 'polygamistphobia', denying thier human right to marry, etc.

Should we then be compelled to recognize polygamist unions?

The logical progression would then be that polygamists can accuse us of hatred, 'polygamistphobia', denying thier human right to marry, etc. 

Ah yes, the good old slippery slope argument. The way to stop the slippery slope is with words, which is exactly how an end was put to polygamy.

Let's justbignore the policy behind a marriage being limited to two people so we can make a weak-sauce slippery slope argument.

The surest sign your argument is a failed one is that you cannot argue it on its own merits and need to try to find an extreme example to compare it to, as a Hail Mary.

@Strangerland

@Chip Star

Sorry. But your opinion on polygamous marriage (which will be labelled bigoted, 'polygamistphobic', etc) will not matter.

This will be decided by the courts using the very same arguments that Ai Nakajima and Kristina Baumann are using and that has gotten gay marriage legalized in other countries.

a. Love is love

b. We want equality

c. Polygamous rights are human rights

d. We bear and raise children as well as heteros and gays

e. We are in committed relationships

f. Those who oppose our right to marry are bigots and haters

g. etc

Neither you nor I will not be able to deny them marriage recognition. So where will it end? Throuples? Quadrouples? ad infinitum.....

@Strangerland

@Chip Star

I'm curious.

When polygamists argue the same points points as Ai Nakajima and Kristina Baumann (listed in my previous post), how will you answer them?