FUKUOKA – The Fukuoka Municipal Government on Monday began officially recognizing the partnerships of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples, adding to nationwide efforts to eliminate discrimination against sexual minorities.

The city is the seventh municipality in the country to issue such certificates after Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward established a similar system in 2015.

The certificate does not entail legal rights or obligations like marriage under the civil law, but such couples will be treated as the equivalent of traditionally married couples when they rent city-run housing or seek treatment at municipal hospitals. Read more via Japan Times