We have all experienced social distancing during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, but LGBTI people in Japan have been distanced from mainstream society even before the virus arrived.
Now is the time to call on the Japanese government to embrace equal rights within a new law it is proposing – The LGBT Understanding and Enhancement Bill currently being drafted by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The bill is expected to be tabled in February or March. Japanese Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans and Intersex (LGBTI) rights organisations advise that the bill falls short of the government’s obligations to respect, protect and fulfil thehuman rights of LGBTI people.
The drafted bill does not explicitly lay out the terms to prevent or prohibit discrimination against LGBTI people. The Japanese parliament (Diet) must commit to doing so this year.
We are calling on Mr Yoshihide Suga, Prime Minister of Japan to ensure any law he enacts:
- fully embraces the principle of non-discrimination and equality
- fully protects LGBTI people from discrimination
and that the Japanese parliament makes LGBTI rights a top human rights priority
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