Lesbian Couple 'Wed' Amid Calls To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

A lesbian couple held a symbolic wedding ceremony Sunday as calls grow to legalize same-sex marriage.

While their marriage will not be recognized under law, actresses Ayaka Ichinose, 34, and Akane Sugimori, 28
- both dressed in white - reportedly tied the knot anyway in front of some 80 relatives and friends in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.

"We held the wedding ceremony so that it might become easier for others to do the same in the future,"
Sugimori told the media afterward.

She added that they will try to register their marriage with a municipal office but expect the application to be rejected.

Last month, Tokyo's Shibuya Ward Assembly voted to issue "partnership" certificates to gay couples, the first such
recognition of same-sex unions in Japan. Other municipalities are considering doing the same.

The certificate will carry only symbolic significance, since the Constitution identifies marriage as a union based on the
mutual consent of parties from "both sexes." Some legal experts, however, say the supreme law only spells out equality
between married partners and does not ban same-sex marriage per se.

Japan lacks legal protection for gay couples, who complain they can be prevented from visiting loved ones in hospitals
or refused tenancy because such relationships are not officially recognized.

Drillz


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