Photo/Illutration Representatives of Japanese LGBT people and rights groups pose for photographers during a news conference on Feb. 7 in Tokyo. (AP Photo)

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party will postpone discussions on a bill to promote understanding of LGBT people until after the unified local elections in April, according to sources.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida showed a positive stance toward submitting the bill to the Diet after his former aide made homophobic remarks in February.

However, he became concerned that the split within the LDP about the bill could negatively impact the election results.

“Diversity creates vitality,” said a former Cabinet member from the LDP. “The LDP will be finished if it can’t even enact a bill to promote understanding of sexual minorities.”

A group of cross-party lawmakers, including those from the LDP, compiled the bill in 2021.

However, a statement in the legislation--“discrimination because of sexual orientation and gender identity is unacceptable”--caused a severe backlash among more conservative-leaning lawmakers in the LDP.

That caused a division within the LDP, which ended the turmoil by shelving the bill.

However, Kishida instructed the party to prepare to submit the bill to the Diet, prompted by the furor caused by the discriminatory comments made by his former aide.

Masayoshi Arai was dismissed as Kishida’s senior executive secretary after he said he would not want to live next to sexual minorities or even see them in off-the-record remarks to reporters.

Following Kishida’s instructions, Koichi Hagiuda, policy chief of the LDP, had an unofficial meeting with two lawmakers of the party in February: Tomomi Inada, a proponent of the bill who used to hold Hagiuda’s post, and Keiji Furuya, a former chair of the National Public Safety Commission, who is cautious about the bill.

They couldn’t reach an agreement at the meeting, however, even on when the party should resume discussions of the legislation.

The LDP hasn’t held any meeting on sexual minorities since.

The unified local elections were announced on March 23 with campaigning kicking off that day. 

The dominant view within the LDP is to not have discussions that will split the party prior to the elections.

Senior members of the party’s Policy Research Council argue the discussions on the bill should be postponed until after the Golden Week holiday season in May.

However, some in the coalition have voiced dissatisfaction with the LDP’s stance, which prioritizes the elections and the party’s own circumstances.

Referring to the Group of Seven nations’ summit in Hiroshima starting on May 19, Natsuo Yamaguchi, the leader of the junior coalition partner Komeito, said at a news conference on March 14 that the bill “should be enacted as quickly as possible. It’s embarrassing that (Japan) will host the summit while the LDP is delaying passage (of the bill).”

The LDP’s executive members even envisage a scenario in which lawmakers would rush discussions on the bill after the elections and enact it quickly before the G-7 summit.

However, lawmakers will effectively have only about two weeks to pass the legislation under this scenario.

Therefore, it’s unclear if the bill can be enacted in a manner that is acceptable for the Diet members opposed to it.

Related News