東京都渋谷区は10月28日、全国で初めて同性のカップルを「結婚に相当する関係」と認める「パートナーシップ証明」の発行受付を始めた。最も早いもので11月5日に交付される。
この日申請し、1番の引き換え証を受け取ったのは、区内に住む東小雪さんと増原裕子さん。NHKニュースによると、増原さんは証明書を取得して「生命保険の受取人にパートナーを指定できるよう交渉したい」と話した。
申請の手続きをした東小雪さんは「この日を、とても楽しみにしていました。窓口で区の担当者からも『幸せな気持ちを感じてくれたらうれしいです』と言われ、認められていると感じて、とてもうれしかったです」と話していました。また、増原裕子さんは「大きな一歩だと思いますが、同性カップルを築きたい人が、全国にもたくさんいることを多くの人に知ってもらい、証明書がなくても同性パートナーが不便なく生きられる社会になってほしいです。今は、生命保険の受け取り人にパートナーを指定できないので、発行されたらパートナーを指定するように保険会社に交渉したいです」と話していました。
（同性カップルに結婚相当の証明書 受け付け開始 NHKニュースより 2015/10/28 11:32）
渋谷区議会は3月31日、全国初となる条例を成立させ、正式な発行手続きの準備を進めてきた。交付対象者が「渋谷区に居住し、かつ、住民登録を行っていること」「20歳以上であること」「配偶者がいないこと及び相手方当事者以外の者とのパートナーシップがないこと」「近親者でないこと」が条件。交付の際は、「任意後見契約に係る公正証書」と「合意契約に係る公正証書」を作成、登録していることが原則的に求められる。これらの公正証書にかかる費用は、数万円と見込まれるが、自己負担となる。
世田谷区でも11月5日から同性カップルに「パートナーシップ宣誓書」を発行する。
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東小雪さん・増原裕子さん
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Fumino Sugiyama, left, holds a banner that reads: \"Congratulations: the same sex partnership ordinance\" with Koyuki Higashi, right, and Hiroko Masuhara in front of Shibuya ward office in Tokyo Tuesday, March 31, 2015 after Shibuya ward became the first locale in Japan to recognize same sex partnerships as the \"equivalent of a marriage,\" guaranteeing the identical rights of married couples with a landmark vote by the ward assembly. Sugiyama will finally be able to marry his girlfriend of four years. He couldn\'t before, because same sex marriages weren\'t recognized in Japan, and he is legally a woman. And Higashi and Masuhara, a rare visible and vocal lesbian couple in Japan, said they moved to Shibuya four months ago, just to apply for a same sex marriage certificate. They have been together for three years, and held a symbolic wedding at Tokyo DisneySea two years ago. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Japan Same Sex Marriage(42 of42)
Koyuki Higashi, right, and Hiroko Masuhara, a rare visible and vocal lesbian couple in Japan, smile with a rainbow banner reading: \"Thank you, Shibuya\" in front of Shibuya ward office in Tokyo after Shibuya ward became the first locale in Japan to recognize same sex partnerships as the \"equivalent of a marriage,\" guaranteeing the identical rights of married couples with a landmark vote by the ward assembly Tuesday, March 31, 2015. The couple said they moved to Shibuya four months ago, just to apply for a same sex marriage certificate. They have been together for three years, and held a symbolic wedding at Tokyo DisneySea two years ago. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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