Lower house of Japan’s parliament passes bill to promote LGBTQ+ awareness, but not guarantee rights

TOKYO (AP) — The powerful lower house of Japan’s parliament passed a bill Tuesday to promote understanding of LGBTQ+ issues amid protests by activists who say last-minute revisions by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s conservative party favored opponents of sexual equality instead of guaranteeing equal rights.

The passage followed only a few hours of debate in a lower house committee last Friday, an unusually short period. The bill is expected to be approved quickly by parliament’s upper house, which is also controlled by Kishida’s governing bloc.

Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations which does not have LGTBQ+ legal protections. Support for same-sex marriage and other rights has grown among the Japanese public, but opposition remains strong within the governing Liberal Democratic Party, known for conservative values and a reluctance to promote gender equality and sexual diversity.

LGBTQ+ activists have increased their efforts to achieve an anti-discrimination law since a former Kishida aide said in February that he wouldn’t want to live next to LGBTQ+ people and that citizens would flee Japan if same-sex marriage were allowed.

The final version of the bill passed Tuesday states that “unjust discrimination” is unacceptable but doesn’t clearly ban discrimination, apparently because some governing party lawmakers oppose transgender rights. Some party members said more consensus building is needed before anti-discrimination measures are introduced.

The bill states that the public’s understanding of various sexual orientations and gender identities is “not necessarily sufficient.” It says conditions should be created so that “all citizens can live with peace of mind,” which critics say