Yuri Igarashi, right, a co-chair of the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation speaks at a press conference in Tokyo Friday, June 4, 2021. Sexual minority groups and supporters, in their last ditch effort to get their long sought equality law before the Olympics, petitioned at offices of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party whose conservative members are resisting and stalling the legislation.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese sexual minority groups and their supporters, in a last-ditch effort to get long-sought equality legislation passed before the Tokyo Olympics, submitted requests on Friday to the governing Liberal Democratic Party, whose conservative members have stalled the bill.
The groups also have widened their campaign to gain corporate support for their cause in hopes of pressuring Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s pro-business party to support the legislation.
“In order to protect the lives and livelihood of sexual minorities, enacting a LGBT law that states discrimination is not tolerated is an indispensable first step,” said Kane Doi, Japan director for the New York-based group Human Rights Watch.
“An enactment of such a law in Japan ahead of the Olympics is also necessary for the international community,” Doi said, adding that Japan needs to demonstrate its commitment to ensuring equality for LGBTQ athletes, journalists and other participants in the Olympics, set to begin July 23.
Support and awareness of sexual diversity has slowly grown in Japan, but there is still a lack of legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Japan does not legally recognize same-sex partnerships, and LGBTQ people often suffer discrimination at school, work and even at home, causing many to hide their sexual identities.
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