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Asia
亞洲板塊
Gay marriage in Japan
日本的同性婚姻
Inching forward
緩慢前進
A court endorses gay marriage, but the government remains opposed
一家法院支持同性婚姻，但政府仍然反對
On Valentine’s Day in 2019, 13 same-sex couples filed lawsuits in four cities across Japan. Their case was simple: they argued that their partnerships were no different from those of heterosexual couples, and that the government’s refusal to recognise gay marriage violated the constitution’s promise of equal treatment for all. This week a district court in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands, came down on the side of the three couples who sued there, the first such ruling by a Japanese court. It is, as a sign held by supporters outside the courtroom proclaimed, “a big step forward for marriage equality”.
2019年情人節當天，日本四個城市的13對同性伴侶提起訴訟。他們的訴訟案件很簡單：他們認為自己的伴侶關系與異性伴侶并無區別，而日本政府對同性婚姻的拒絕承認違反了其憲法平等對待所有人的承諾。本周，位于日本主要島嶼最北端的北海道的一個地方法院決定支持發起訴訟的三對同性伴侶，這是日本法院首次做出這樣的裁決。正如法庭外支持者舉著的標語所宣稱的那樣，這是“婚姻平等的一大進步”。
Yet it is also, for the time being, only a symbolic one. The three-judge panel declared that preventing the couples from marrying contradicted Article 14 of the constitution, which forbids discrimination on the basis of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin. Yet it also refused to award damages to the plaintiffs, arguing that public opinion was evolving quickly, and that the government should be given time to legislate on the matter.
然而，這樣的標語就目前而言也只是象征性的。三名法官組成的合議庭宣布，阻止伴侶結婚違反了《憲法》第14條，即禁止基于種族、信仰、性別、社會地位或家庭出身的歧視。但法院也拒絕向原告賠償損失，他們認為公眾輿論正在迅速演變，應該給予政府時間就此事進行立法。
Neither the constitution nor any laws explicitly ban same-sex marriages. Some local governments issue documents certifying same-sex partnerships, which can simplify hunts for flats and visits to partners in hospital. But the national government does not acknowledge these, depriving gay couples of certain benefits of marriage. That leaves Japan out of step with other rich countries—it is the only G7 member that does not recognise same-sex unions.
日本憲法和任何法律都沒有明確禁止同性婚姻。一些地方政府簽發同性伴侶關系證明文件，從而可使尋找住房以及探視住院伴侶的流程簡化。但是國家政府并不承認同性伴侶關系，還剝奪了同性夫婦婚姻的某些福利。這使得日本與其他富裕國家步調相悖，成為七國集團（G7）中唯一不承認同性結合的成員國。
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