◼ BUSINESS Bloomberg Businessweek June 24, 2019
23● Policiesofmultinationalscanclashwith
localanti-LGBTlaws
The
Unequal
GayExpat
Life
ForAlexanderDmitrenko,42,it wasa purchaseto
cementthetiestohisadoptedhome.He’sspent
mostofhiscareercrossingborders:Anethnic
UkrainianborninRussia,Dmitrenkohasgraduate
degreesfromuniversitiesinBudapest,NewYork,
andToronto,andhe’sanattorneyforFreshfields
BruckhausDeringer,a lawfirmwithheadquarters
inLondon.Forthepastfouryears,he’sspecialized
incorruptioninvestigationsfromthefirm’sTokyo
office.“IloveJapanwithallmyheart,”hesays,
whichis onereasonheboughta vacationhomeon
a remoteislandaboutanhourbyplanefromTokyo.
Yettherewasa problem.Topurchasehome
insurance,heneededa nextofkinlivinginJapan.
Dmitrenkois gayandhasa partner,butasfaras
theinsureris concerned,hehasnolocalrelative,
becausethegovernmentdoesn’trecognizesame-
sexunions.“SoI havenoinsurance,”hesays.In
a countrythatisearthquake-prone,that’sbad
enough,butDmitrenkosaysit’sjustoneinstance
ofthedailydosesofdiscriminationheandhispart-
nerface.“Therearewholeareasofrightswherewe
areinvisibleinthelaw,”hesays.“Ithurts.”
DiscriminationofthekindDmitrenkofacesis
increasinglya problemformultinationalbusinesses
operatingincountrieswithvastlydifferentpoli-
ciestowardLGBTpeople.Althoughmorethantwo
dozencountrieshavelegalizedsame-sexmarriage,
some 70 nations have anti-LGBT laws, and many
more have discriminatory policies. That’s pressur-
ing global companies, which depend on being able
to move talented employees around the world, to
find ways to help workers and their families in coun-
tries that lack protections for LGBT people.
The problem is particularly complicated in
Japan, which is a laggard compared with most
other developed economies. Within the Asia-Pacific
region,TaiwaninMayrecognizedsame-sexmar-
riage,followingearliermovesbyAustraliaandNew
Zealand.HongKong’stopcourtonJune6 took a
big step in that direction, ruling same-sex couples
married elsewhere were entitled to benefits straight
couples receive. Lower courts are now hearing
caseschallengingthecity’ssame-sexmarriageban.
AlthoughPrimeMinisterShinzoAbe’scabinet
hasn’tpromotedLGBTequality, 11 municipalities
certify same-sex partnerships for couples, accord-
ing to Nijiiro Diversity, an organization advocating
for LGBT people in Japan. Tokyo last year passed
ananti-discriminationlawcoveringsexualorienta-
tionandgenderidentity,andJapan’smajoroppo-
sitionpartiesonJune3 submitted a bill calling for
marriage equality.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan
joined groups representing businesses from
Australia,Canada,Ireland,NewZealand,andthe
U.K.tocallforanendtothesame-sexmarriage
ban.Liberalizationwouldbenefitallcompanies
doing business in Japan, they said in a statement
released in September, arguing that countries with
marriage equality “have a competitive advantage
over Japan because they offer LGBT talent a more
inclusive environment.”
Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley, and
Barclays have endorsed the call for marriage
equality in the country, as have Amazon.com,
Coca-Cola,andGeneralElectric.NissanMotor,
Sony,andNipponLifeInsurancewereamongmore
than 100 companies to receive a gold ranking in an
annual survey of policies for LGBT employees by
Work With Pride, a local advocacy group.
Somecompaniesgotogreatlengthstohelp.
MoriakiKida,anexecutiveforEYJapaninTokyo
who’ssettobecomechiefoperatingofficeronJuly1,
married his husband in New York in 2014. Two years
later, EY transferred Kida back to Japan. His British
husband, unable to get a spousal visa, relied on stu-
dent and short-term permits and frequent trips out-
side Japan to avoid overstaying. EY compensated the
couple for the extra costs and eventually came up
with another solution: The company hired Kida’s
husband, enabling both of them to live in the coun-
try. Not everyone can get that kind of help, of course.
“I feel fortunate, but I feel a little guilty,” Kida says.
Even a company as big as Panasonic Corp. has
challenges. It’s had an anti-discrimination policy
since 2016 and offers gay couples the same spou-
sal benefits as straight ones. Last year it chose a
gay man, Laurence Bates, as general counsel and
a member of its board. Bates, 61, and his husband
have two children adopted in the U.S. Japan recog-
nizes only his husband as the parent, so Bates● Countries with
national laws
criminalizing same-
sex relations between
consenting adults or
nonconforming gender
expression
Algeria
Antigua and Barbuda
Bangladesh
Barbados
Bhutan
Botswana
Brunei
Burundi
Cameroon
Chad
Comoros
Cook Islands
Dominica
Egypt
Eritrea
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guinea
Guyana
Iran
Jamaica
Kenya
Kiribati
Kuwait
Lebanon
Liberia
Libya
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Myanmar
Namibia
Nigeria
Occupied Palestine
Oman
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Qatar
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines
Samoa
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Syria
Tanzania
Togo
Tonga
Tunisia
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe