Japanese court rules gay marriage ban constitutional

A Tokyo court ruled on Wednesday that a ban on same-sex marriage was constitutional, but said the lack of legal protections for same-sex families violated their human rights, which it saw as a step forward. to align the country with other G7 nations.

Japan is the only G7 nation that does not allow same-sex marriage, and its constitution defines marriage as based on “mutual consent of both sexes.

The Prime Minister’s ruling party Fumio Kishida it has yet to reveal plans to review the matter or propose legislation, although several key members support same-sex marriage.

The decision on Wednesday by the Tokyo district court said that while the ban was constitutional, the absence of a legal system to protect same-sex families was a violation of their human rights.

“This is actually a very positive decision,” said Nobuhito Sawasaki, one of the lawyers involved in the case.

“While marriage remains between a man and a woman, and the decision supported that, it also said that the current situation without legal protection for same-sex families is not good and suggested that something should be done about it,” he told the Reuters.

Tokyo’s decision, already influential because of the capital’s outsized influence on the rest of Japan, was eagerly awaited as a 2021 decision in the city of Sapporo raised hopes by declaring a ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, while a in Osaka in June found the opposite.

Currently, Japan does not allow same-sex couples to marry or inherit each other’s property, such as a house they may have shared, and it does not give them parental rights over each other’s children.

Although partnership certificates from municipalities now cover about 60% of the population in Japan, including Tokyo, they do not give same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples.

The eight plaintiffs involved in the case said the ban violated their human rights and demanded 1 million yen in damages, a demand the court rejected.

But the group, which unfurled a banner outside the courthouse saying “a step forward for marriage equality” after the ruling was read out, said it was encouraged.

“There were parts of it that were disappointing, but others gave me hope,” said Katsu, a male plaintiff who gave only his first name.

The decision comes a day after the US Senate passed a same-sex marriage protection bill and Singapore lifted its ban on gay sex but limited prospects for legalizing same-sex marriage.

Two more cases are pending in courts in central and western Japan, and activists and lawyers are hoping that a backlog of court rulings in support of same-sex marriage will eventually put pressure on lawmakers to change Japan’s system, though that is unlikely to happen in brief.