Japan’s Local Governments are divided over whether to pay dependent allowances to their Public Servants who have a same-sex partner.
While the allowance itself is often under 10,000 yen ($A106) per month, the symbolic value is that it is intended for the spouse who does not work.
The Asahi Shimbun newspaper contacted all 47 Local Governments (known in Japan as Prefectures) and found that the responses differed wildly, with many leaving same-sex couples in limbo.
As it currently stands, 11 Prefectural Governments said they consider same-sex partnerships to be “similar to common-law marriages”, and could, therefore, pay out dependent allowances in these cases.
However, 12 Prefectures, including some that have implemented a same-sex partnership certificate system, said such allowances could not be paid because of a National Personnel Authority directive that states same-sex partnerships do not fall under the same category as common-law marriages.
While the National Personnel Authority directive applies only to Central Government Public Servants, Prefectures often refer to it when drawing up their own ordinances.
Another 24 Prefectures said they had never considered the matter before or were just now considering it, mainly because they hadn’t received inquiries from same-sex couples about receiving the dependent allowance.
An official with the Hiroshima Prefecture said if a Government worker applied or consulted about the allowance “we would consider whether same-sex partnerships can be interpreted as similar to common-law marriages”.
The official in charge at the Saga Prefecture said the Prefecture was striving to demonstrate its stance recognising diversity.
Professor of Sexual Minorities and Family Law at Waseda University, Masayuki Tanamura said the Central Government should take a more flexible response to help eliminate the differences that now exist among the various Prefectural Governments.
Tokyo, 12 September 2023
