Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven advanced industrialized nations that lacks a law protecting the rights of LGBTQ people. However, LGBTQ activists and rights groups have recently launched a civil “engagement group” called Pride 7, with the aim of accelerating their efforts to get the Japanese government to adopt an anti-discrimination law. This initiative comes ahead of the upcoming G-7 summit in Japan, where activists hope to make policy proposals for G-7 organizers in the hopes of achieving an LGBTQ anti-discrimination law in Japan. Pride 7 also plans to address problems in other countries, especially in Asia, and is joined by rights organizations in 10 other countries, including six other G-7 members, as well as Thailand, Vietnam, Botswana, Mexico, and the EU.
The group, which includes the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation and two other organizations, announced its launch on Wednesday, and plans to hold an inaugural Pride 7 summit in Tokyo later this month. The summit will be attended by ambassadors from G-7 nations and representatives of economic organizations and labor unions. The group plans to submit a policy recommendation to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who recently faced national outrage over discriminatory remarks made by a former aide in February. The former aide said he wouldn’t want to live next to LGBTQ people and that citizens would flee Japan if same-sex marriage were allowed.
Although Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party and other non-partisan lawmakers have begun preparing legislation to promote awareness of LGBTQ rights, some conservatives have shown resistance. Support for sexual diversity has grown slowly in Japan, and legal protections are still lacking for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Recent surveys have shown that the majority of Japanese support legalizing same-sex marriage, but the conservative government has stonewalled the push for equal rights.
More than 200 local municipalities, including Tokyo, have introduced certificates of partnerships for same-sex couples, allowing them to rent apartments and sign documents in medical emergencies, and for inheritance. However, the certificates are not legally binding, and same-sex couples are often barred from visiting each other in the hospital and from accessing other services available to married couples.
Japan signed the communique adopted at the G-7 Elmau summit hosted in Germany last year that calls for “full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls in all their diversity as well as LGBTIQ+ persons in politics, economics, education and all other spheres of society.” The activists noted that Japan must fulfill its commitment and enact an anti-discrimination law. While momentum is on the rise ahead of the G-7, experts say that legalizing an anti-discrimination law for LGBTQ people would have to wait some time if they miss this chance.