In an attempt to legalize same-sex marriage, 455 LGBT Japanese people and their allies have filed a request with the Japan Federation of Bar Associations asserting that their nation’s refusal to recognize gay marriage is a violation of their human rights.

This is the first bid in Japan to try to legalize same-sex marriages by addressing the cause as a human rights issue.

As reported by the Japan Times, the JFBA, the nation's largest bar association, will investigate the allegation and, if they find that the case for human rights violation has been made, they will issue a warning to the central government.

Toshimasa Yamashita, one of the lawyers involved in the cause, explained to reporters that, “If issued, the warning will be quite comprehensive, formulated based on the bar association’s meticulous research and analysis,” adding that he believes last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared same-sex marriages legal in across the U.S. will help their case.

Back in June, Taiga Ishikawa, an openly gay member of the Toshima Ward Assembly in Tokyo, expressed his optimism about what the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage would do for human rights in general. As reported in Japan Times, Ishikawa said, “I believe the ruling showed the court’s understanding that marriage equality is not something determined at the whim of the state, but guaranteed to every human being universally.”

The request formally states that Japan’s failure to acknowledge same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, contradicting the principle of equality and individual dignity as guaranteed by the Japanese constitution.

Although Japan does not actually outlaw same-sex marriages, it does not grant same-sex unions the same status enjoyed by heterosexual matrimonial unions.

One of the main disadvantages same-sex married couples in Japan must endure is an inability to designate their partners as inheritance beneficiaries in the event that they die without a will.