I recently authored a scholarly essay on the trajectories of marriage equality in the United States and Japan, and compiled this timeline as part of my research.
Setting the Scene for Marriage Equality
1787:
The United States Constitution is ratified.
Marriage is not mentioned.
Some states have anti-sodomy statutes, but no such laws exist at the national level.
1868:
The fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution states that all citizens are entitled to equal protection under the laws of the United States.
1872:
Same-sex sexual conduct is briefly criminalized in Japan until 1880.
This eight-year stretch is the only time in all of Japan’s history that such conduct was ever criminalized.
1889:
The Meiji Constitution, known formally as the 大日本帝国憲法 (dainippon teikoku kenpō, The Constitution of Imperial Japan), is adopted.
Based on contemporary British and German constitutions, the Meiji Constitution also does not mention marriage.
1945:
The Potsdam Declaration calls for the democratization and demilitarization of Japan in May, three months prior to the end of the Second World War in August.
1947:
After rejecting the recommendations of the Matsumoto Commission, American civilians working in occupied Japan draft a new Constitution of Japan.
After minor revisions by Japanese scholars, the constitution is promulgated by the Emperor as an amendment to the Meiji Constitution in 1946 before going into effect the following year.
Article 14 ensures equal protection under the law for all citizens of Japan.
Article 24 of the new constitution was written to abolish involuntary marriage, and codifies equal rights for both persons entering into a marriage.
As written in Japanese, this article specifically refers to both sexes.
1962:
Illinois becomes the first state to decriminalize homosexuality.
Our Heroes Arrive
1966:
Brian is the first-born son of happy parents in New York State.
1970:
Jack Baker and Michael McConnell apply for a marriage license in Minnesota State.
They are denied.
Hiro is the first-born son of happy parents in Tōkyō.
1971:
The Gay Activists Alliance demand marriage rights for same-sex couples.
1973:
An article appears in the Yale Law Journal that argues denial of marriage equality could violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution.
1975:
Virginia becomes the first US state to explicitly ban same-sex marriage.
1978:
Brian becomes aware that he is attracted to other men.
1985:
Hiro becomes aware that he is attracted to other men.
1987:
Brian comes out of the closet in early years of the HIV-AIDS pandemic.
1998:
Brian moves to Japan after graduating college. His original plan is to put off graduate school for one year.
The Story Takes Flight
1993:
The Hawai‘i State Supreme Court rules in Baehr v. Lewin that any abridgment of marriage against same-sex couples was in violation of the state’s constitution.
After months of unsuccessful attempts at a date, Brian and Hiro are accidentally the only two attendees at a group outing to the Ōtori Festival in Tōkyō’s Asakusa neighborhood. Brian is in the middle of his fifth year of life in Japan.
1996:
US President Bill Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act, prohibiting federal recognition of same-sex marriages.
The Unitarian Universalist Association promulgates a service of union ceremony for same-sex couples.
It is not equivalent to marriage.
1998:
Voters in Alaska approve an amendment to the state constitution to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples, the first of many such states to do so.
Brian is headhunted to a job in the Seattle area, and leaves Japan after ten years there. After ten months of separation, Hiro moves to Seattle on a student visa. He and Brian mark their fifth first-date anniversary by moving in together for the first time.
Legal Issues Intensify
2000:
Vermont offers civil union status, akin to domestic partnerships, to same-sex couples, the first of many other states that attempt to offer a separate recognition for same-sex couples, either as civil unions or as domestic partnerships.
2003:
The US Supreme Court decriminalizes homosexuality throughout the United States in Lawrence v. Texas.
The Massachusetts State Supreme Court rules as Hawai‘i did ten years prior against any abridgment that bars same-sex couples from marriage.
Marriage equality passes in Massachusetts later that year and goes into effect in 2004.
2004:
Clerks in San Francisco issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples; the licenses are invalidated later that year by a state Supreme Court ruling.
2005:
The United Church of Christ becomes the first significant Christian denomination to affirm both homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
2006:
The New Jersey Supreme Court rules that denial of same-sex marriage violates the state’s constitution.
Brian and Hiro decide to move to British Columbia to begin preparing for an application for permanent residency in Canada. Brian receives a student visa and Hiro is awarded a work permit in recognition of their status, under Canadian law, as common-law spouses.
2007:
California governor Schwarzenegger vetoes same-sex marriage legislation for the second time.
2008:
California and Connecticut legalize same-sex marriage.
Later that year, Proposition 8 passes in California, in part thanks to massive lobbying efforts by both the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Roman Catholic Church.
Same-sex marriage is once again illegal in that state.
2009:
Maine governor John Balducci becomes the first governor to sign same-sex marriage into law.
Same-sex marriage is also legalized in Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the District of Columbia.
Maine’s law is repealed in a voter referendum later in the year.
Japan begins allowing Japanese nationals to enter into same-sex marriages outside of Japan. Such persons receive no rights or recognition within Japan, however.
Marriage Equality Accelerates
2010:
US District Court of Massachusetts judge Joseph Tauro opines in two separate cases that the denial of federal rights and recognition to married same-sex couples violates the equal clause protection of the US Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment.
Another US District Court judge in California, Vaughn R. Walker, invalidates Proposition 8 for the same reason.
2011:
The Squamish Tribe in Washington State becomes the first tribal authority in the United States to allow same-sex marriages.
2012:
Washington State becomes the ninth US state to legalize same-sex marriage.
North Carolina passes a state amendment banning same-sex marriage; they are the last state to do so.
President Obama endorses the legalization of same-sex marriage.
Windsor v. United States reaches the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and section three of the Defense of Marriage is ruled unconstitutional. Lawyers for the United States appeal to the US Supreme Court.
2013:
The US Supreme Court invalidates section three of the Defense of Marriage Act in Windsor v. United States, allowing federal recognition of marriages performed in state or other national jurisdictions. This ruling also allows all married couples to file taxes jointly. to claim Social Security benefits, and to sponsor a non-national spouse for a US permanent resident visa.
Within two weeks of the ruling, Brian and Hiro celebrate a very small wedding in British Columbia, a few months shy of their twentieth first-date anniversary. They file paperwork to apply for Hiro’s permanent residence visa (green card) in the US.
2014:
State bans on same-sex marriages are invalidated by US Circuit Court decisions in places like Utah, Idaho, Michigan, Texas, and elsewhere.
2015:
Tōkyō’s Shibuya and Setagaya Wards offers a registry for same-sex partnership certificates.
More than one hundred Japanese local governments (municipal and prefectural) follow suit in subsequent years.
The US Supreme Court rules in Obergefell v. Hodges that the right to marry extends to all couples.
Marriage equality is achieved across the entire United States.
Hiro is awarded his green card, and he and Brian return to Washington State.
Happy Endings?
2018:
Brian and Hiro mark their twenty-fifth first-date anniversary and their fifth wedding anniversary with a two week holiday in Hawai‘i.
2021:
Sapporo District Court declares that laws barring same-sex marriage are in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of Japan (which stipulates that all people are equal under the law).
I look forward to the day that marriage equality is fully recognized in Japan.
