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A court in Osaka, Japan has issued a ruling upholding the ban on same-sex marriage as constitutional. The ruling by a district court in Osaka is a serious set-back to gay activists and gay couples after another district court in Sapporo ruled in 2021 that the failure to recognize same-sex marriage was “unconstitutional”, BBC reports.
The country’s
constitution defines marriage as one between “both sexes”. Japan is currently
the only country in the G7 group of developed nations that doesn’t allow people
of the same to marry.
According to
the BBC, the Osaka case was filed by three same-sex couples, two of them male
and one female. The district court dismissed demands for 1 million yen which is
about $7,414 in damages for each couple who argued they had suffered “unjust
discrimination” by not being allowed to marry, adding that it was not
unconstitutional for them to be denied married.
The court
also argued that it necessary to recognize the benefits of same-sex couples
through public debate.
"From
the perspective of individual dignity, it can be said that it is necessary to
realise the benefits of same-sex couples being publicly recognised through
official recognition," the court said in its ruling, according to The BBC.
"Public
debate on what kind of system is appropriate for this has not been thoroughly
carried out."
The current
rules does not allow same-sex couples to legally marry, cannot inherit their
partner’s assets and have no parental rights over their partner’s children.
Same-sex
couples do not have the same full legal rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples
even though some individual municipalities are issuing partnership certificates
to help same-sex couples to rent a place together and have hospital visitation
rights.