Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with representatives of LGBTQ groups on Friday and offered an apology over discriminatory remarks made by his former aide, Masayoshi Arai, which sparked nationwide outrage and calls for the government to ensure equal rights. Arai’s comments to reporters earlier this month that he wouldn’t want to live next to LGBTQ people and that citizens would flee Japan if same-sex marriages were allowed prompted renewed demands that the government adopt an anti-discrimination law. Kishida quickly fired Arai, his former aide, after he made the remarks.
However, the Prime Minister’s own previous comments, including that allowing same-sex marriage would change society and family values and must be carefully considered, were also seen as an indication of his reluctance to promote equal rights for LGBTQ people despite his pledge to create an inclusive and diverse society. Campaigns for equal rights for LGBTQ people have been stonewalled especially by conservatives in Kishida’s governing Liberal Democratic Party. An attempt to enact an equality awareness promotion law ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics was quashed by the party.
While surveys show growing public support for same-sex unions, government efforts to support sexual diversity have been slow in Japan and legal protections are still lacking for sexual minorities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people often face discrimination at school, work and home in Japan, causing many to hide their sexual identities. Japan is the only G-7 member that has not recognized same-sex marriage or enacted an anti-discrimination law for LGBTQ people. Activists are now urging the government to enact anti-discrimination legislation before Japan hosts a summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations in May in Hiroshima.