First Lesbian Couple Get Married At Tokyo Disney Resort
by Beth on Monday, April 8, 2013
by Beth on Monday, April 8, 2013
The happy couple take a gondola ride at Tokyo Disney Resort.
In March this year, the first lesbian couple to marry at Tokyo Disney Resort released pictures of their special day on Twitter, with many netizens strongly supporting their union. Now, the Asahi Shimbun has covered their story in an online article, which has already received thousands of Facebook likes and been re-tweeted and re-blogged countless times.
Although Japan does not legally recognise same-sex marriages, the LGBT community is growing ever more visible and vocal. This fairytale Disney wedding partly symbolises how far the community has come, but also how far is still to go.
While netizens are overwhelmingly supportive of this beautiful couple, others point out that had it been two men, or two less attractive women getting married, people may not have been so accepting.
From Asahi Digital:
Lesbian Couple’s Dreams Come True At Tokyo Disney Resort; Both Brides Wear Dresses At Ceremony
“Mickey came, and everyone congratulated us. It really was a splendid day” said Higashi Koyuki (28), looking back on the wedding ceremony she and her partner held at Tokyo Disneyland in March. Her partner is Hiroko (35), a company employee. Both the brides wore wedding dresses, and held the first ever lesbian wedding ceremony at Tokyo Disney Resort.
Higashi and her partner Hiroko are lesbians. Higashi hails from Kanazawa, where she also works as a representative for “Rainbow Kanazawa”, an exchange group for sexual minorities such as homosexuals and those with gender identity disorders [transgender people].
The new wedding service at Tokyo Disney Resort was announced in March last year (2012). Higashi inquired about it immediately, but at first the response was that a ceremony for a lesbian couple ‘would be possible if one of the couple wore a tuxedo, and that they looked like a male-female couple”. It was hardly usual, however, for either Higashi or her partner Hiroko to dress as men.
“The fact that they said it was alright if one of us were dressed as a man means that they really weren’t accepting of homosexual weddings”. When a dejected Higashi tweeted about this, it had a huge response.
Higashi first realised that she fell in love with women when she was a student at a high school in Kanazawa. The girl she confessed her crush to already had another female student who she was interested in. It was a shock to Higashi, but she realised that “it was fine to be in love with another girl”.
After graduating high school, she went on to the Takarazuka Music School, where she performed on stage for two years, playing male roles with the stage name “Aura Naoki”. Still, at that time she couldn’t come out as a lesbian. She left Takarazuka after suffering with health problems, became active in a human rights organization for LGBT people.
Higashi acted as the facilitator in a programme broadcast over the internet aimed at homosexual people, and also planned events. It was also through these activities that she met her partner Hiroko. They began living together in summer last year. Even though they have had a marriage ceremony, they have no legal security as a same-sex couple; there are even case where a partner has been refused visitations when they other has been hospitalised through illness or injury. Why was it unacceptable for them to do the things that a male-female couple would normally do? It was that thought that moved them both to action.
In Holland and Spain, same-sex marriages are legally recognised, and even in Germany and France, a system is being introduced whereby the rights of same-sex couples are protected. It is thought that of the more economically developed nations, it is only Japan and Russia where the system for same-sex marriage is entirely inadequate.
In a survey by the UK government, that people who are homosexual or transgender [Japanese: gender identity disorders] constitute 6% of the population of the UK. According to Dentsu Research, in Japan this population constitutes 5.2%. If you take it that this is one person in twenty, then it means that LGBT people are alongside you, even in your school or workplace. It’s just that because the person themselves doesn’t make it clear, or perhaps can’t make it clear, that you haven’t noticed.
“When it comes to being loved and feeling happiness, it doesn’t matter if you’re gay or straight. Families come in all shapes and sizes, and we want to send the message that we live as we do, so that it becomes easier for people of all kinds to live more easily”. Higashi feels that “Times are beginning to change, bit by bit”.
