Photo/Illutration Plaintiffs hold up signs outside the Fukuoka District Court on June 8 urging the government to pass laws to legalize same-sex marriage. (Kengo Hiyoshi)

In her contribution to The Asahi Shimbun last month, Li Kotomi, a Taiwanese writer and the recipient of the 2021 Akutagawa Prize, recalled what she felt in Sydney seven years ago: “I felt as if the city was telling me with all its might, ‘You are welcome to stay here.’”

She was there for her first experience of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, which is one of the largest LGBT festivals in the world.

The event that year attracted more than 10,000 sexual minorities from around the globe and about 300,000 spectators showed up along the parade route in celebration.

As I was stationed in Sydney at the time, I also viewed the same scene that Li saw and from the same place. Everyone was smiling in mutual acceptance, regardless of their nationality or gender identity.

The Fukuoka District Court on June 8 ruled that a legal system that did not recognize same-sex marriage was in a “state of unconstitutionality.” Did that make the plaintiffs--all same-sex couples--feel welcome to stay where they were?

With the latest verdict, the tally now is four out of the five district courts examining the Japanese legal system’s rejection of same-sex marriage that have determined the system to be either “unconstitutional” or “in a state of unconstitutionality.”

In the days ahead, the focus will shift to the legislative process. However, the Diet is incapable of agreeing even on the use of the expression “gender identity” in a bill that is supposed to broaden society’s understanding of sexual minorities.

I still remember one lawmaker who vilified them as “unproductive.” One of the plaintiffs in the Fukuoka lawsuit lamented, “The government’s attitude has a lot to do with the prevailing attitude in society.”

In her collection of essays titled “Tomei na Maku wo Hedatenagara” (Separated by a transparent film), Li says there is nothing wrong with falling in “unproductive” love.

What is wrong, though, she declares, is “the violent nature of a society that forces on people a self-righteous yardstick by which to determine the value of individuals.”

And that yardstick has to do with morality, procreation and national interest.

Being made welcome to stay “here” means one has their place in society and is treated with dignity like everyone else.

But when politicians can’t even say that, what are we to make of them?

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 9

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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