Conservative lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party have reacted angrily to the Sapporo High Court’s ruling that the lack of legal provisions for same-sex marriage in Japan is unconstitutional.
One former Cabinet member said the March 14 court decision itself is “unconstitutional.”
“(Same-sex marriage) would totally reshape the family system and change the core of Japan,” the politician said. “I will remain opposed to it even if I were to become the last one to do so.”
The court ruled the absence of same-sex marriage provisions, including in the Civil Law, violates the first paragraph of Article 24 in the Constitution, which defines freedom of marriage.
The high court’s presiding judge also took the unusual step of making an additional remark that calls for prompt response measures.
What do Japanese homophobes even thump as the basis of their hate, if they’re not christian? Is there some foundational Buddhist or Shinto text I don’t know about that says gay sex is gross?
Shintoism has no fewer than four gods of male-male love, so no. Buddhist monks in Japan were also openly gay, like, all the time, so that’s not it, either. Confucianism bans gay marriage; I have no idea how relevant that is, here.
The Meiji era banned sodomy in 1872 in an effort to westernize. That would be my guess.
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In this case they’d be copying Britain or Imperial Germany, but the sentiment stands.
The politicians worry that same sex marriage will result in an even lower birth rate, which seems ridiculous! It’s not like those people are currently making babies. And they might consider surrogacy or other options if they were able to marry. So same sex marriage could actually increase the population.
