Trevor Campbell is designer, writer, and communications strategist who splits his time between Tokyo and Toronto. Since early-2017, he has worked as a program facilitator and instructor with Peace Boat, an NGO/NPO with special consultative status to the UN, and a steering committee member of ICAN, recipient of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.

On July 9, the city of Osaka will become the eighth municipality in Japan to issue documents recognizing same-sex partnerships.

On the one hand, it’s tempting to interpret this action as a step towards equality. Partnership recognition is largely symbolic, but even incremental progress can lead to real change.

But these performative gestures often become impediments to equity and equality, and the way in which such actions are acknowledged has a huge impact on more critical legislation: long overdue basic civil liberties like antidiscrimination policies, laws protecting and supporting transgender people, and same-sex marriage or civil unions.

When the first same-sex partnership in Japan was recognized in Shibuya in 2015, mayor Ken Hasebe called it “a first step.” So why, nearly three years later, are we still taking first steps?

Public opinion polls show that support for same-sex marriage has been steadily increasing in Japan, reaching a majority in 2015. According to a survey by the National Institute of Social Security and Population Studies, over 70 percent of those in their 20s approve of legal same-sex unions.

But even though Japan is ready for real change, it has yet to come — instead, we’re meant to react to decorative gestures like partnership recognition with gratitude. Until real change is achieved, LGBTQ people have no reason to be grateful.

It’s important to clarify what sort of “recognition” is being offered. Read more via Japan Times