A bill to promote understanding on LGBT (sexual minorities) was withdrawn from Diet’s debates. It was because rightist lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) harshly opposed to putting it on agenda. The bill was on the stage to be approved in the current parliamentary session as MPs of both ruling and opposition parties had worked in coordination. This is another case to show to the rest of the world an image of Japan where the human rights are underdeveloped.
BIGGEST OBSTACLE – LDP’S STRUCTURAL NATURE AGAINST GENDER DIVERSITY
The ruling LDP pledged five years ago to make a law to deepen understanding sexual minorities. Debates have lately begun along the official promise, which had been shelved up due to the scheduled Olympics and Paralympics, events representing diversity and harmony. And recently a federation of lawmakers composing of both ruling and opposition members finally reached a conclusion on the LGBT issue.
The opposition group has compiled a draft bill to eliminate discriminations in employment at governments’ offices and private companies. Meanwhile, the LDP has finalized a bill to deepen understanding on the sexual minorities issues.
Sexual identity – a human right
Through consultation talks of the ruling and opposition MPs the opposition side agreed to remove provisions to prohibit discrimination, while the LDP approved to alter a term from ‘gender identity’ to ‘gender proclamation’ and to insert a phrase, ‘in acknowledging that discrimination is not allowed in terms of gender orientation and identity’.
Until today in Japan it has been considered as a disorder, or a disease, when people feel odd in their registered sex and identify themselves as different from it. That is a term ‘gender identity disorder’.
The new bill provides that a person’s gender cannot be set by others, but by himself/herself. It advocates self-acknowledgement in identifying gender as a basic rule. Discussions have been held in preparing for enactment on the basis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Olympic Charter which prohibit any type of discrimination, including one to gender orientation.
Expressions of the Ultra-rightist Lawmakers
According to media reports, Yana Kazuo, an LDP Member of the House of Representatives, told, in their internal, unofficial meeting, that ‘the bill violates a rule of preservation of species from a biological point of view’, and Yamatani Eriko, Member of the House of Councilors of the same party, mentioned that ‘absurd things took place, like demanding to enter a toilet for females because his body is of a man but he/she is a woman in mind, or winning an Olympics medal by joining the females’ track and field events’.
Identifying gender is clearly distinguished from a self-professed status or pretension. It has a consistent, sequential character. Alteration of gender in the legal context brings grave decisions in a person’s life, needless to say.
Requirements for changing the registered sex in a legal term are different from rules applicable when a person uses a female toilet. Adversely speaking, it is probably the LGBT people themselves that fear most from the troubles.
Human rights in Japan – underdeveloped
Among the G7 nations solely Japan has no laws to prevent discriminations to LGBT people. The country’s immature rank has been exposed again to the international community. LGBT people suffer severely from discriminations and prejudice, but the ruling Liberal Democratic Party administration does not care about them. The biggest obstacle is the LDP’s structural nature to purge LGBT.
性的少数者に対する理解を深めるための法整備は、自民党が５年前から公約してきた。そして、「多様性と調和」を掲げる東京五輪・パラリンピックを前に棚上状態だった公約の議論が始まり、超党派議連で合意ができたところだった。
野党側は行政機関や企業に就職などで差別を禁じる「差別解消法」案を提示、自民党も特命委員会が「理解増進法案」の要綱をまとめた。
性自認は人権問題
協議の結果、野党が差別禁止規定を取り下げ、自民党も法律の基本理念に「性同一性」との文言を「性自認」に変更し、「性的指向および性自認を理由とする差別は許されないとの認識の下」という文言を入れることで合意が成立した。
日本ではこれまで、「性同一性障害」という言葉に象徴されるように、性別違和・性自認の在り様は障害（病気）として扱われてきた。
それが、今回は人の性については他人が決めることではなく、自己認識によって決定される「性自認」を原則に、性的指向を含むいかなる差別をも禁止する世界人権宣言や五輪憲章の理念に立って法整備の議論が進められてきた。
自民党極右の暴言
ところが、自民党内の議論で、簗和生衆院議員は「生物学上、種の保存に背く」と非公開の会合で発言したと伝えられ、山谷えり子参院議員は「体は男だけど（心は）女だから女子トイレに入れろとか、女子陸上競技に参加してメダルを取るとか、馬鹿げたことがいろいろ起きている」などと反対したという。
「性自認」は「自称」や「なりすまし」とは明確に区別され、連続性・一貫性を持ったものである。法律上の性別変更が、人生上の重大な決断を伴うことは言うまでもない。
法律上の性別変更の要件と、女性専用スペースの利用ルールとは、別の問題である。逆に、そうしたトラブルを一番恐れているのは当事者自身ではないのか。
人権後進国またも
いわゆる先進７カ国（Ｇ７）で、ＬＧＢＴに関して差別防止の法整備がないのは日本だけで、「遅れた国」の姿をまたも世界にさらすことになった。当事者が差別と偏見の中でどんなに苦悩しているか知ろうともしない、自民党の差別体質こそ障害なのだ。
英訳版↓
No. 1214 Bill on LGBT Scrapped
A bill to promote understanding on LGBT (sexual minorities) was withdrawn from Diet’s debates. It was because rightist lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) harshly opposed to putting it on agenda. The bill was on the stage to be approved in the current parliamentary session as MPs of both ruling and opposition parties had worked in coordination. This is another case to show to the rest of the world an image of Japan where the human rights are underdeveloped.
BIGGEST OBSTACLE – LDP’S STRUCTURAL NATURE AGAINST GENDER DIVERSITY
The ruling LDP pledged five years ago to make a law to deepen understanding sexual minorities. Debates have lately begun along the official promise, which had been shelved up due to the scheduled Olympics and Paralympics, events representing diversity and harmony. And recently a federation of lawmakers composing of both ruling and opposition members finally reached a conclusion on the LGBT issue.
The opposition group has compiled a draft bill to eliminate discriminations in employment at governments’ offices and private companies. Meanwhile, the LDP has finalized a bill to deepen understanding on the sexual minorities issues.
Sexual identity – a human right
Through consultation talks of the ruling and opposition MPs the opposition side agreed to remove provisions to prohibit discrimination, while the LDP approved to alter a term from ‘gender identity’ to ‘gender proclamation’ and to insert a phrase, ‘in acknowledging that discrimination is not allowed in terms of gender orientation and identity’.
Until today in Japan it has been considered as a disorder, or a disease, when people feel odd in their registered sex and identify themselves as different from it. That is a term ‘gender identity disorder’.
The new bill provides that a person’s gender cannot be set by others, but by himself/herself. It advocates self-acknowledgement in identifying gender as a basic rule. Discussions have been held in preparing for enactment on the basis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Olympic Charter which prohibit any type of discrimination, including one to gender orientation.
Expressions of the Ultra-rightist Lawmakers
According to media reports, Yana Kazuo, an LDP Member of the House of Representatives, told, in their internal, unofficial meeting, that ‘the bill violates a rule of preservation of species from a biological point of view’, and Yamatani Eriko, Member of the House of Councilors of the same party, mentioned that ‘absurd things took place, like demanding to enter a toilet for females because his body is of a man but he/she is a woman in mind, or winning an Olympics medal by joining the females’ track and field events’.
Identifying gender is clearly distinguished from a self-professed status or pretension. It has a consistent, sequential character. Alteration of gender in the legal context brings grave decisions in a person’s life, needless to say.
Requirements for changing the registered sex in a legal term are different from rules applicable when a person uses a female toilet. Adversely speaking, it is probably the LGBT people themselves that fear most from the troubles.
Human rights in Japan – underdeveloped
Among the G7 nations solely Japan has no laws to prevent discriminations to LGBT people. The country’s immature rank has been exposed again to the international community. LGBT people suffer severely from discriminations and prejudice, but the ruling Liberal Democratic Party administration does not care about them. The biggest obstacle is the LDP’s structural nature to purge LGBT.
June 15, 2021