US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday that he has “full confidence” that the Japanese government will take the necessary steps to ban discrimination against LGBTQ people.
Sexual minorities have been campaigning for the government to adopt an anti-discrimination law after an aide to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that he would not want to live alongside LGBTQ people and that citizens would flee Japan if sexual minorities were allowed. same-sex marriages. Kishida quickly dismissed his assistant, Masayoshi Arai.
Activists are urging the government to enact anti-discrimination laws before Japan hosts a summit of the Group of Seven industrialized countries in Hiroshima in May. Japan is the only member of the G-7 that has not recognized same-sex marriage or enacted an anti-discrimination law for sexual minorities.
“I have full confidence based on the promptness of the prime minister’s actions,” Emanuel told a news conference.
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Japan’s parliament “will reflect not only the will of the Japanese public, but will take the necessary steps to be a clear and unequivocal voice not only for tolerance, but also against discrimination,” it said.
Support for sexual diversity has grown slowly in Japan, and legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are still lacking. They often face discrimination at school, work, and at home, causing many to hide their sexual identity.
Campaigns for equal rights for sexual minorities have faced strong and persistent resistance from conservatives in Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The party quashed an attempt to enact an equality awareness law ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel speaks during a news conference on February 15, 2023 in Tokyo. Emanuel said the Chinese balloon intrusion into US airspace was not an isolated incident. He also said that he has “full confidence” that the Japanese government will ban discrimination against LGBTQ people. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Meanwhile, more than 200 local municipalities, including Tokyo, have introduced partnership certificates for same-sex couples that allow them to rent apartments and sign documents in medical emergencies and inheritances. But the certificates are not legally binding, and same-sex couples are often barred from visiting each other in hospital and accessing other services available to married couples.
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Media polls show that public support for legalizing same-sex marriage has risen in recent years to over 60%.
At a recent rally, more than 30 LGBTQ and other rights groups adopted a call on Kishida and the heads of both houses of parliament to enact an anti-discrimination law, not the awareness-raising legislation currently being considered by the party. ruler.
Kishida’s recent misleading comments were seen as indicating his reluctance to promote equal rights for sexual minorities despite his earlier promise to create an inclusive and diverse society.
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Responding to a question from a lawmaker in parliament, Kishida said allowing same-sex marriage is “an issue that needs to be looked at very carefully.” A decision requires a deep examination of the whole society “because the issue can change the concept of family and values, as well as society,” she said.
Japan signed a communiqué from the G-7 summit in June calling for “the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls in all their diversity, as well as LGBTIQ+ people in politics, the economy, education and all other spheres of society. Activists in Japan should honor that international commitment.
