A group of gay and lesbian activists was awarded compensation by a high court Sept. 16 for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's refusal to let them use public accommodations in Fuchu, west Tokyo, in 1990.
The Tokyo High Court ordered the metropolitan government to pay damages totaling 167,200 yen to the plaintiffs, arguing that the government's education committee, which manages the facility, should have had enough knowledge and sensitivity about homosexuals.
The education committee argued in court that it was difficult for the facility manager and the committee at the time to have enough information on homosexuals when they rejected their application for use of the facility, known as "Fuchu Seinen no Ie," or "The Fuchu Home of the Young."