Tokyo High Court says same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional [Video]

Japan’s Tokyo High Court ruled on Wednesday that the absence of legal recognition for same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, though it denied the plaintiffs’ request for damages, local media reported.

The decision follows a 2022 ruling by the Tokyo District Court, which described the same-sex marriage ban as in a “state of unconstitutionality” but stopped short of deeming it unconstitutional, Kyodo News reported.

The term used by the lower court, while stopping short of declaring the ban unconstitutional, is seen as a call for the Diet to take action on the issue.

The case involved seven plaintiffs, including same-sex couples, who sought 1 million yen ($6,500) each from the government. They argued that civil law provisions not allowing same-sex marriage violate the right to equality under the Constitution and its guarantee of the freedom of marriage.

After the Tokyo District Courtrejected their damages claim in November 2022, the plaintiffs appealed, urging the high court to …