Nintendo to Recognize Gay Marriage for Employees, Defying Japan's Ban

Nintendo is out here saying “gay rights!”

On Tuesday, July 12, Nintendo Japan updated its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) guidelines after a court in Japan ruled in favor of banning same-sex marriages in the country. Human rights advocates have been trying to argue that the ban is unconstitutional, but this has been a losing battle so far.

Nonetheless, Nintendo disagreed with the decision and has now put in place what it’s calling a “Partnership System” for its employees. The company wrote in a memo:

“Although same-sex marriages are not currently recognized under Japanese law, this system ensures employees who are in a domestic partnership with a same-sex partner have the same benefits as employees in an opposite-sex marriage. We have also established that a common-law marriage between couples will be observed in the same way as a legal marriage.”

In the same memo, Nintendo Japan noted that it is committed to inclusion and its Code of Conduct, which states that the company does not “discriminate based on race, ethnicity, nationality, ideology, religion, creed, origin, social status, class, occupation, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.”

This has been a huge blow to the Japanese ban on same-sex marriages given that Nintendo is one of the most famous and beloved companies in the world to hail from Japan. Nintendo isn’t particularly known for taking such strong stances against laws and governments, but it used its power and influence this time to stand up for the LGBTQ+ community and for the company’s queer employees.

Given the massive gaymer community and how many LGBTQ+ people are already obsessed with Nintendo games, this is fantastic news.

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