June 9, 2022

The Japanese Communist Party and three other opposition parties (the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Social Democratic Party, and the “Reiwa Shinsengumi” party) on June 8 jointly submitted to the Lower House a bill to eliminate discrimination against gender minorities such as LGBTQ.

The bill prohibits administrative organs and business operators from discriminately treating employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and stipulates measures that schools and employers should take to eliminate discrimination against LGBTQ.

At a press conference after the bill’s submission, JCP representative Miyamoto Takeshi said, “No matter what kind of sexual orientation or gender identity a person has, every person has the right to be oneself. We’d like to work together to establish a society promoting respect for all human rights.”

The four opposition parties also jointly presented a bill to amend the Civil Code so that a selective dual surname system can be realized and a bill to support victims of sexual violence.

The bill to support victims of sexual violence improves the services provided by “sexual violence one-stop support centers” to give comprehensive support with the state funds needed to do so.

JCP representative Motomura Nobuko pointed out, “If divided by 47 prefectures, the state budget for fiscal 2022 earmarked for the one-stop support centers is less than 10 million yen,” and expressed her determination to have the bill enacted with cross-party support.