The marriage of Liu Ling-chun (劉靈均) to his Japanese husband, Masahiro Shibaguchi, in August, despite receiving significant media attention, has hardly affected their daily lives in Japan, where same-sex marriage remains illegal.
Yet for Liu, a Miaoli County native who grew up in Taipei, the certificate issued by a local household registration office was proof that “my hometown supports my very existence.”
“It is hard to put how I felt at that moment into words, but I had a new and unprecedented feeling ... a feeling that transcended elation,” Shibaguchi, a city councilor in the small central Japanese city of Takahama, said when describing the day the registration took place.
Photo courtesy of Liu Ling-chun
Liu and Shibaguchi are among several of the cross-national same-sex couples to have officially tied the knot in Taiwan after the Ministry of the Interior scrapped a directive that had long been criticized as discriminatory, according to the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights.
Despite Taiwan legalizing same-sex marriage in May 2019, couples were excluded if one of the two was from a country or jurisdiction where same-sex marriage was not recognized.
Currently, only same-sex couples involving one person from China are unable to register their marriage in Taiwan because their matrimonial affairs are governed by a separate law.
For Shibaguchi, this year has been a roller coaster ride, and not just because he got married, something he had thought would be “beyond [his] reach,” in a foreign country.
The 53-year-old, who previously worked as a truck driver, changed careers and became the first politician in Aichi Prefecture to win an election after coming out as gay.
Shibaguchi said he became aware of his sexual orientation when he was in third grade at elementary school, but it was not until May 2021 when he met Liu — then a university lecturer — that he began to open up about his sexuality.
When a senior Takahama councilor from the Japanese Communist Party retired late last year, Shibaguchi, having liaised with the party since he was a young adult, took a chance and applied for the job.
He was elected in April in a race where 21 candidates competed for 20 seats.
During his campaign, Shibaguchi was not only open about being gay, but also called for more education about gender equality and the promulgation of anti-discrimination regulations, said 38-year-old Liu, who was deeply involved in the campaign.
Speaking of his role, Liu jokingly said that he was more of a “lackey,” when standing alongside Shibaguchi.
Liu said he would hand Shibaguchi the microphone, stand behind him and wave flags, and shake hands with passersby while his husband was delivering speeches.
Liu, a gender studies researcher at Osaka Metropolitan University, has been an activist since he was a university student in Taipei.
Over the years, he has participated in anti-discrimination and gender equality initiatives, and worked with non-governmental organizations on social causes.
In July 2017, he started an informal group, the Kansai Tongzhi Association, to promote gay rights in the Kansai region, which has expanded to other areas, Liu said.
Speaking of how people in Taiwan and Japan could collaborate on LGBTQ advocacy, Liu said that Taiwanese could help their friends in Japan become more aware of the socioeconomic advantages of equality in society.
“The fulfilling emotional experiences and freedom enjoyed by Taiwanese people stem from their support of one another. It would be wonderful to let our Japanese friends see that,” he said.
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