In Japan, a court has ruled that the country’s ban on same-sex marriage is constitutional.
In the ruling, Ayumi Higashi, the judge who delivered the verdict, said that laws on same-sex marriage should first be deliberated in parliament.
This verdict is the last among six high court rulings on same-sex marriage lawsuits filed from 2019 to 2021, in courts in Sapporo, Osaka and Fukuoka, among others. Among the verdicts, five found the ban unconstitutional.
This ruling by the Tokyo high court is, thereby, an exception to the series of pro-LGBTQIA+ verdicts.
The cases will now be taken to the Supreme Court.
To date, Japan is the only G7 country that does not fully recognize same-sex couples or offer them legal protection. In Asia, however, only Taiwan, Thailand and Nepal offer same-sex marriages.
