Chiba 1st Japan city to certify both common-law marriage and LGBT couples

In a first for Japan, the city of Chiba held a ceremony Tuesday to issue certificates recognizing both the partnerships of sexual minority and common-law couples."I wish you happiness in becoming better partners," Mayor Toshihito Kumagai said at a ceremony involving six couples.According to the city located to Tokyo's east, Chiba's recognition of partnerships -- regardless of whether they are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples, or mixed-gender common-law couples -- is the first of its kind in Japan.A number of other Japanese municipalities, including the Tokyo wards of Shibuya a…READ FULL ARTICLE