The Osaka District Court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit seeking 1 million yen (approx.
However, the court sided with the government and ruled that the constitutional definition of marriage did not extend to same-sex partnerships, public broadcaster NHK reported.
The Osaka court ruling has dashed the hopes of gay rights activists who are pressuring the government to reconsider its opposition to same-sex marriage.
The Osaka court’s ruling stood in stark contrast to a historic ruling by the Sapporo District Court in Japan’s northern Hokkaido prefecture in March 2021.
On that occasion, the Sapporo court ruled that the government’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage violated the constitutional right to equality — although it had also dismissed a similar claim for damages.
Japan remains the only country in the Group of Seven (G7) that has not recognized same-sex civil partnerships or same-sex marriages at the national level.
However, some parts of the country issue “partnership certificates” that give same-sex couples some rights, such as B. Permission to rent property and the right to hospital visits.
Same-sex marriages in Asia
Japan, where homosexuality has been legal since 1880, is relatively liberal compared to some Asian nations.
For example, gay sex in Singapore remains illegal, despite growing calls to change the colonial-era law.
India’s Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that gay sex is no longer a criminal offense. However, the country does not recognize same-sex marriages.
China also doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages, despite growing awareness of LGBTQ issues in the country. Although there are no laws against same-sex relationships in China, it remains a taboo subject that is routinely scrutinized and even censored on social media.
However, recent progress has been made in some corners of Asia on this issue.
In 2019, the self-governing island of Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
And this month Thailand moved closer to becoming the first place in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex partnerships when lawmakers passed four separate laws aimed at giving gay couples greater rights, such as B. the possibility of adopting children and managing assets together.