By Joshua Bryan, Chair of the Board, TELL Japan
On 1 April 2001, 4 couples married in Amsterdam, becoming the first same-sex couples in the world to have their marriages legally recognised. 25 years on, this is a major milestone worth marking as Japan pursues its own path to marriage equality. It also serves as a useful reminder of what legal recognition actually changes for the people living without it.
I’m writing as one of those people. My husband is Japanese, and we married at the British Embassy in Tokyo in August 2024, and our second anniversary lands just after Pride this year. Tokyo is our home city; however our marriage isn’t yet recognised here.
I remain optimistic, as Japan continues its march forward. In March, the Supreme Court referred the Freedom to Marry for All cases to its Grand Bench, with a decision likely in early 2027. 5 of 6 high court decisions have found the current marriage ban unconstitutional. Public support sits at around 72%, partnership systems cover more than 90% of the population, and 688 companies and organisations have endorsed Business for Marriage Equality.
The people most affected by this debate are our youth, with many still working out whether it’s safe to be honest about who they are. ReBit’s 2025 survey of LGBTQ children and youth in Japan found that 53.9% of teenagers had thought about suicide in the past year, and 40.8% said they had no safe person or place to talk about their sexuality. 94.6% of middle and high-school students felt unable to confide in their homeroom teacher. Where young people did have a safe person or place to talk, ReBit found lower rates of suicidal thoughts, attempts, and self-harm.
TELL has stood alongside the LGBTQIA+ community for much of its 53-year history, including through the darkest years of the AIDS crisis, and we recognise the mental-health toll the community has endured. This year, TELL will once again join Pride celebrations in Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka, with plans to join the Pink Dot Okinawa Pride event later in the year.
Legal change counts, but so does whether a young person has one trusted person they can be honest with. On behalf of my community, thank you to TELL’s Support Workers, who keep answering the LifeLine, by voice and chat, and continue being that one trusted person for whoever is reaching out.