A Japanese court ruled for the first time Wednesday the country’s ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional. The ruling is a major victory for LGBTQ rights in Japan, though campaigners still face an uphill battle to legalize same-sex marriage. This is one of the plaintiffs in the case, who chose to keep her identity a secret.

Plaintiff: “Only because the gender of the person we love is different, we can’t get married. We live the same lives as heterosexuals, have the same troubles and the same joys. Though our lives are exactly the same, the nation wouldn’t recognize this. This is clear discrimination, from our point of view.”