Reuters reports that Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a news conference the government would 'carefully watch' the outcomes of the remaining court cases. Kanako Otsuji, an opposition party member and one of Japan's few openly gay politicians, said in a tweet reported by The Guardian that she was 'truly, truly happy' about the verdict, and urged the legislature to 'deliberate a proposed amendment to the civil code to make same-sex marriage possible.'

'It's like a dream,' one plaintiff said, according to the Times. Still, advocates hope Wednesday's ruling will provide some momentum. A new law would be needed to legalize same-sex marriage, and NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports that Japan's legislature is not likely to take one up. Wednesday's ruling alone will not prompt any changes in government policy. Parallels The First Place In East Asia To Welcome Same-Sex Marriage As of January, Kyodo News reports, 74 municipalities were in the practice of doing so. Since 2015, certain Japanese municipalities have issued 'partnership certificates' to gay and lesbian couples, which do not confer legal status equivalent to marriage but allow for shared rental agreements and hospital visitation rights.

'We are moving closer to making our dream come true.' 'This is one huge step forward in Japan,' plaintiff Ai Nakajima told the BBC after Wednesday's ruling. Their lawyers argue that the text of Japan's constitution was intended to prevent forced marriages, rather than explicitly prohibit same-sex marriage, as NPR has reported.

A total of thirteen couples filed lawsuits on Valentine's Day 2019 in the cities of Sapporo, Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, with another three filing suit in Fukuoka several months later. The case is one of several brought against the government by same-sex couples in a campaign demanding the right to get married, and the first to reach a verdict. Supporters celebrate the district court's ruling on Japan's same-sex marriage ban with a flag reading 'unconstitutional decision' in Sapporo, Hokkaido prefecture, on Wednesday.Ī Japanese court ruled on Wednesday that the government's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, a landmark decision that supporters hope will pave the way for marriage equality in the only G-7 nation to not fully recognize same-sex partnerships.Īrticle 24 of Japan's constitution defines marriage as based on the 'mutual consent of both sexes,' which is currently interpreted to mean it is legal only between a man and a woman.īut as The Associated Press reports, the Sapporo District Court found that banning same-sex marriages violates Article 14 of the Japanese constitution, which prohibits discrimination due to 'race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.' It said that because sexual orientation is not a choice, it is discriminatory not to afford marital benefits to same-sex couples.Īsia Same-Sex Couples Sue For The Right To Marry In Japan

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