The city of Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, home to the famous cross-dressing all-female musical troupe Takarazuka Revue, has become the fourth local government in Japan to recognise same-sex unions as equivalent to marriage.

The Takarazuka municipal government enacted the new legislation on Wednesday, and has started issuing official partnership certificates to same-sex couples.

Even though the Japanese constitution defines marriage as between a man and a woman, Takarazuka has gotten around this by drafting its own partnership oath, reports RocketNews24, so once a couple submits their application, they’ll get a certificate signed by the mayor and thus become eligible for public services for married couples.

Any gay couple aged 20 or older will be able to apply for the papers, even if one of them lives outside the city, so long as he or she plans to move to the municipality.

Tokyo’s Shibuya and Setagaya wards and the city of Iga, Mie Prefecture, are already issuing such documents.

Last year, Mayor Tomoko Nakagawa announced the decision saying that it is the local government’s job to create a society that all citizens felt comfortable in.

‘This is a step forward to encourage the drive for recognising same-sex marriages across Japan and ultimately push the Diet to start discussions on the issue,’ he added.

Though the new law does not compel private businesses to recognise the certificate as Shibuya does, several major companies such as Panasonic and SoftBank have already announced that they will do so, reports RocketNews24.

Gay couples in Japan often face discrimination when looking for housing together.

In fact, it is prohibited for a Takarazuka same-sex couple to live together in apartment buildings run by the city as they are not considered family.

However, things can changing as the Takarazuka Municipal Government has plans to revise an ordinance so that gay couples can live in with each other in those premises.

In other good news, the city of Naha in Okinawa Prefecture is expected follow suit in July.

H/t: The Japan Times