EMA日本の設立レセプションを開催しました

11月22日（いい夫婦の日）にEMA日本（いーまにっぽん）の設立レセプションを開催しました。
EMA (Equal Marriage Alliance) Japan’s kick off reception was held in Tokyo, on Saturday, November 22, 2014.

EMA日本の活動を支えて下さっている正会員・賛助会員・支援者の皆さまをご招待しました。
We were pleased to invite EMA Japan members as well as those who have contributed so generously to our organization in the past year. 

既に25年前に同性パートナーシップを認め、自身が20年前に同性婚したデンマークの駐日特命全権大使カップルをはじめ、英国公使、ドイツ公使、イスラエル公使ら各国大使館からの代表に加え、総選挙直前にも関わらず自民党や民主党の国会議員の代理の方にもご出席たまわりました。
Among our guests, we were honored to welcome His Excellency the Ambassador of Denmark and his spouse. Denmark is the country where registered partnerships (nearly the equivalent to full marriage rights) were legalised 25 years ago. In addition, Ministers of the Embassy of the UK, Germany and Israel were also in attendance as well as representatives of Members of Parliament from both the ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and the opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).

また、約20名のボランティアの方々もご参集いただき会場のお手伝いをして下さいました。おかげさまで素敵な会になりました。レセプションの開催に際しご協力いただいた全ての方に深くお礼を申し上げます。
EMA Japan was grateful for the approximately 20 volunteers who donated their time to help make the event a great success. To all of those who worked on the event planning and preparation also, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks and gratitude.

法律で同性婚を認めること自体はEMA日本の本当の目標ではありません。誰もが自由に生き、自分らしさを発揮できる社会を作ることこそが目指すべきゴールであり、同性婚はそのために必要な一歩に過ぎません。しかし、同性婚の法制化は、性的マイノリティーという日本ではまだまだ理解が進んでいない多くの人たちの法の下の平等を認め、基本的人権を守るという意味で、極めて重要な意義を持ちます。
For EMA Japan, legalising same-sex marriage is not our only goal. Ultimately, we strive to bring about a society in which everyone can live true to themselves and we feel that marriage equality is the necessary first step towards creating such a society. However, marriage equality has significant importance as it ensures equal treatment before the law, and protects the basic human rights of sexual minorities, who are not yet fully accepted in Japanese society.

既に世界の40%の経済は同性婚を認める国・地域が占めています。与野党を問わず同性婚の法制化にコミットする議員も増えつつある今、日本もその一員になる日は必ず来るでしょう。しかしこの一歩を一日も早く実現するために、皆さまのご協力を改めてお願い申し上げます。
Now, with 40% of the world’s GDP coming from the places where equal marriage has become accepted, we feel Japan must also move towards same-sex marriage recognition. In this regard, we have already garnered support and commitment for marriage equality legislation from both ruling and opposition party members of parliament. For more information about EMA Japan, how to support us a volunteer or work with us in other ways, please see our website, emajapan.org, for details. We ask for your continued support as we work to make equal marriage a reality in Japan.

EMA日本にご参加・ご協力いただく方法については、emajapan.orgをご覧下さい。

Tweet

Pocket