Japan Press Weekly

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2018 October 3 - 9 TOP3 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly passes ordinance to ban discrimination against LGBTQ

The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on October 5 passed an ordinance bill to ban discrimination against LGBTQ people and foreign residents in Japan with the majority vote of all political parties with the exception of the Liberal Democratic Party. The Japanese Communist Party supported the bill, saying that it is what Tokyoites have long called for.

The ordinance is aimed at prohibiting discriminatory treatment based on sexual identity and orientation. As a measure to make sure that xenophobic hate-speech rallies and demonstrations will not take place in public places, the ordinance requires the governor to establish guidelines on the use of public facilities.

In the plenary meeting of the assembly, prior to the vote, JCP member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Ikegawa Yuichi spoke in favor of the bill. He said that the ordinance sends a message that any form of discrimination will not be tolerated. The ban on unfair treatment based on sexual identity and orientation is a major achievement brought about by Tokyoites’ sustained efforts.

In addition, Ikegawa said that the metropolitan government in assembly discussions on the bill stated that the government will take care in implementing the ordinance in order to not infringe on people’s constitutional rights and freedom of expression. He also quoted Tokyo government officials as saying that those who will be barred from using public facilities are specified in the anti-hate speech law. Ikegawa added that the metropolitan government promised to take into account the opinions of academics and other experts in drawing up the guidelines.

Past related article:
> Japan’s legislature makes a big step forward to end hate speech [May 13 & 14, 2016]