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.