Japanese high court rules same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional

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Japan’s fitful march toward marriage equality took a giant leap on Thursday when a high court ruled the country’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

“Disallowing marriage to same-sex couples is a discrimination that lacks rationality,” the ruling said, while noting that “enacting same-sex marriage does not seem to cause disadvantages or harmful effects.”

Civil code rules limiting marriage to couples of the opposite sex, the high court in Sapporo ruled, are “unconstitutional” and “discriminatory.” Existing law, the justices wrote, should be revised or rewritten to include other types of unions in addition to those between a man and a woman.

The judiciary does not have the power to overturn existing civil marriage codes.

Marriage equality has divided the country’s court system in opposing rulings over several years, while Japan’s conservative government lags behind increasingly supportive public opinion. Seventy percent of the Japanese public supports marriage equality, but it’s opposed by…

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