The United States Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, recently expressed his confidence in the Japanese government to, as Associated Press describes it, “ban discrimination against LGBTQ people.” This statement follows a call from activists to pass an anti-discrimination law before Japan hosts the G-7 summit in May.
Though support for sexual diversity has grown slowly in the country, there are still no legal protections for ‘LGBT’ people in Japan.
The Japanese parliament is expected to take steps to regulate and ban this so-called discrimination. In June of last year, Japan signed the G-7 summit communique which called for the full, equal, and meaningful participation of LGBTQ+ persons in society. Activists are urging the government to uphold this communique by passing more laws.
U.S. Ambassador Rahm Emanuel believes that the Japanese government will take end up taking these steps.
“I have full confidence based on the swiftness of the prime minister’s actions,” Emanuel said at a news conference.
He added, Japan’s parliament “will reflect not only the will of the Japanese public, but take the steps necessary to be a clear unambiguous voice not only for tolerance, but against discrimination.”
Leftist elected officials in the United States such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have also taken it upon themselves to weigh in on Japanese affairs.
