Great news for Switzerland--and Japan!

＜English＞

Translated by faiyaque

I'm sure that most of you have already heard the news, but nonetheless I'd like to write a bit about events that have changed our world this week!

First of all, something phenomenal took place on March 29, 2009 in my own home country of Switzerland!

Corine Mauch, an out lesbian politician, won the mayoral elections in Switzerland's largest city, Zürich. It is doubly pleasing to know that she is not only Zurich's first openly gay mayor, but also the first woman to hold the office.

With openly gay mayors heading both Paris and Berlin, as well as a lesbian recently elected as Prime Minister of Iceland, it's becoming hard to overlook the growing presence of openly gay men and women around the world making their mark in the field of politics!

Switzerland may be small, but it had already begun to show its progressive stripes by passing a referendum allowing the registration of same-sex partnerships in a popular vote held in 2005.

As fate would have it, Zürich was already slated to host this year's EuroPride, Europe's largest gay pride event held every year in a different city. Now with this this happy news to celebrate, crowds at EuroPride 2009 are sure to throw themselves into the festivities with greater excitement than ever.

The pride events last from May 2nd to June 7th, and Mauch herself will be delivering a speech during the opening ceremony held on the first day. The one-month celebration will culminate in
a parade expected to draw tens of thousands of people, held on June 6th, so anyone planning on going to Europe should certainly make an effort to drop by!

Also, with so many illuminating events in the international scene, I'm now overjoyed to see that Japan has its own shining light as well!

Even while same-sex partnerships and/or marriages have become legal in several countries--including France, Germany, Spain, England, Canada, and Belgium--debate on the subject has not even begun in Japan. Yet, there was recently a move on the part of the Japanese government to recognize the marriages of citizens who legally wed their same-sex partners outside of Japan.

In November of last year (2008), Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the Social Democratic Party, urged the Ministry of Justice to issue certificates required for legally-binding marriages and, on March 26 of this year, the Ministry made the decision to issue such a certificate for a Japanese couple with plans to marry overseas.

This is a first in Asia!!

Any Japanese nationals thinking of marrying their same-sex partner overseas should now know, the doors are wide open!

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