Japan Press Weekly

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2021 March 31 - April 6 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

LGBT-rights group asks for JCP’s cooperation to establish LGBT equality legislation

Activists of the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation (J-ALL) on April 2 visited Japanese Communist Party Dietmembers in the Diet building to ask for their cooperation to establish an LGBT equality law.

The J-ALL, consisting of about 80 LGBT-related groups, last year together with the international NGO Human Rights Watch, a N.Y.-based LGBT rights group working in the field of sports called “Athlete Ally”, and the global movement for LGBT “All Out” launched an international signature-collection campaign demanding that Japan, as a nation hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games, introduce an LGBT equality law. The number of signatures collected at home and abroad reached 106,250 as of February 21, 2021.

In the meeting with JCP lawmakers, J-ALL co-head Fujii Hiromi cited that the Sapporo District Court last month ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitutional right to equality before the law. She said, “This indicates changes transpiring in society. I want to turn the current society into a discrimination-free society.” J-ALL Secretary General Kamiya Yuichi called for legislation that will truly work to protect LGBT people from discrimination.

JCP Upper House member and JCP gender equality commission chair Kurabayashi Akiko reported that the revised Party Program seeks to eliminate discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. She said, “Your efforts and an increase in public awareness of LGBT rights movements have built up momentum for a better understanding of LGBT issues. We’ll work hard to use this momentum to work for the creation of an LGBT non-discrimination law.”

JCP member of the House of Representatives Shimizu Tadashi and JCP member of the House of Councilors Kami Tomoko also attended the meeting.

Past related article:
> Sapporo district court recognizes ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional [March 18, 2021]