Japanese Court: Refusing to Recognize Same-Sex Marriage Is Unconstitutional

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

52% : "With regard to issues surrounding the introduction of same-sex marriage, we believe it is important to pay close attention to the opinions of all parts of the public," Matsuno said.
47% : Gay rights activists hailed the ruling as another step toward forcing the national government to recognize same-sex marriage, following a similar but more limited ruling by the Sapporo District Court in 2021.
45% : The Sapporo court ruled fairly narrowly that banning same-sex marriage violated Article 14 of the Japanese constitution, which states that "all of the people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin."
41% :Opinion polls show that up to 70 percent of the Japanese public favors same-sex marriage, and 278 municipal governments have created limited "partnership agreements" for same-sex couples.
40% : The government of Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) do not support same-sex marriage.
40% : Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu said on Tuesday that the administration does not believe the Japanese Constitution supports legalizing same-sex marriages, and he noted a sizable portion of the Japanese public remains opposed to the idea.
37% : Japan's Nagoya District Court ruled Tuesday that failing to recognize same-sex marriages is unconstitutional, even though the Japanese Constitution currently stipulates that marriage requires a man and a woman.
37% : In February, he fired his executive secretary Arai Masayoshi for saying that he "would not want to live next door" to a same-sex couple and "does not even want to look at them."
34% : The Nagoya ruling was more expansive than the 2021 Sapporo decision because it stated that banning same-sex marriage violates both Article 14 and Article 24 of the Japanese constitution.
30% :Courts in Osaka and Tokyo subsequently ruled last year that banning same-sex marriage is not unconstitutional, although the Tokyo court also said that the lack of a legal framework for same-sex couples was an infringement upon their human rights.

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