A SECOND Japanese high court ruled today that the government’s opposition to same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, in the latest in a series of decisions upholding plaintiffs’ demands for marriage equality.

The Tokyo High Court called the ban “a groundless legal discrimination based on sexual orientation,” saying it violated the constitutional guarantee of the right to equality as well as individuals’ dignity and equality between the sexes. 

It was a clearer statement than a lower-court decision in 2022, which described the situation as “an unconstitutional state.”