Gays won Japan's first gay-rights lawsuit September 16th.

The Tokyo High Court ruled that the city Board of Education discriminated against the gay group Occur in 1990 by refusing to let its members hold an overnight study meeting at a city-run youth hostel.

Tokyo's District Court reached the same conclusion in 1994 but the city appealed. The High Court awarded Occur $1,333 in damages.

"The rejection was unconstitutional as it denied gay people equal access to the public facility," the High Court said. "The city government should have given due consideration to homosexual people, and its indifference and ignorance will not be tolerated."

The court said young people are capable of understanding homosexuality and that education should be provided if confusion or tension results from the presence of homosexuals in public facilities.

Government agencies are "obligated to pay careful attention to the situation of homosexuals as a minority and to guarantee that their rights and interests be upheld," the court said. "Indifference and ignorance regarding homosexuality are inexcusable on the part of persons in the position of wielding governmental authority."

Lawyers for the city argued that letting gays sleep overnight in youth hostels would "cause disorder" because hostel rules require that "men and women ... sleep in separate rooms. [A]llowing gay people in the same room, who are likely to have sex, would cause troubles to other guests," they said.

Occur spokesman Masaki Inaba commented: "We are happy with the ruling because it stated clearly the Tokyo government's rejection was illegal. ... Discrimination against homosexuals is prevalent, and today's ruling gives hope for homosexuals."

The city has until September 30 to decide whether to appeal to the Japanese Supreme Court.