The Fukuoka District Court on Thursday ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage is in a “state of unconstitutionality,” following a ruling last week by the Nagoya District Court with stronger phrasing clearly calling it unconstitutional.

The Fukuoka court, however, rejected a demand by the plaintiffs that the government pay them each ¥1 million in damages.

Masahiro, a 35-year-old plaintiff from the city of Fukuoka — who only offered his first name — said same-sex marriage is a human rights issue and strongly urged parliament to hold discussions on the matter as soon as possible.

“I feel relieved that we are making progress, but I did hope that they would say it was unconstitutional,” Masahiro said, referring to the stronger wording used by the Nagoya court.

Kosuke, 33, Masahiro’s partner, said lawmakers have been discussing the issue for a long period without taking real action.

“I do not think parliament should decide what our families look like,” Kosuke said, lamenting the inaction by lawmakers.

He added that while he sees the ruling as being in the plaintiffs’ favor, he had hoped that a stronger message could have been sent to parliament, pushing them to hold discussions.

The lawsuit was filed in September 2019 by six plaintiffs — three couples in their 30s and 40s, — who argued that not allowing same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.

Thursday’s ruling was the fifth from among six similar lawsuits filed with courts across the country. Decisions have been split over the question of whether the ban is constitutional, with one previous ruling also using the phrase “state of unconstitutionality.”

“Not allowing the same benefits granted to married couples, nor allowing individuals the option of being family members with partners they choose, is in a state of unconstitutionality regarding Article 24, Clause 2 of the Constitution,” presiding Judge Hiroyuki Ueda said in the ruling.

Article 24, Clause 2 stipulates that laws be enacted from the standpoint of individual dignity and equality of the sexes with regard to choosing a spouse and marriage.

But the ruling stopped short of fully declaring the ban unconstitutional considering the variety of systems available, including municipalities’ partnership systems, and how opinion is still divided over the issue, especially among older people.

The ruling also stated that banning same-sex marriage does not violate other articles in the Constitution, including the right to equality under Article 14. It also rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that the government failed to act on the issue by not drafting legislation to allow same-sex marriage.

The government has said that Article 24, Clause 1 does not cover same-sex marriage because the clause says “marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes." Thursday’s ruling, along with the four previous ones, all ruled in favor of the government regarding this clause.

In early 2019, multiple same-sex couples filed lawsuits in the Sapporo, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka district courts. The same year, Taiwan legally recognized same-sex marriage in a first for Asia.

In 2021, the Sapporo District Court ruled for the first time that not recognizing same-sex marriage is unconstitutional over the right to equality, but a demand that the government pay damages was dismissed.

In June last year, the Osaka District Court ruled that it was not against the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage and dismissed demands for compensation. In late November, the Tokyo District Court ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage was in a “state of unconstitutionality,” with the reasoning similar to that of Thursday’s ruling in Fukuoka.

In the parliament, deliberation has been ongoing for weeks over the definition of gender identity stipulated in an LGBTQ bill — a level of debate that remains distant from any discussion of legalizing same-sex marriage.

Japan is the only Group of Seven nation that does not recognize same-sex marriage or provide the same legal protections given to heterosexual couples.

In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to legally recognize same-sex marriage. Tokyo’s Shibuya and Setagaya wards became the first places in Japan to introduce a same-sex partnership system in late 2015.

The partnership system, now in place in more than 300 municipalities, offers certificates that recognize family relations between members of the LGBTQ community, but they are not legally binding. Under the system, partners recognized as a couple are allowed to move into public housing as family members.