On July 19th, a LDP lawmaker Mio Sugita contributed an article to a magazine Shincho 45 and labeled LGBT couples “unproductive” citizens in terms of childbirth, declaring that the taxpayer’s money should not be used for them. In addition to that, she expressed her anxiety about people choosing a bathroom according to the sex they identify with, insisting that a society without “common sense” and “normalcy” loses social order and collapse eventually. “I don’t want this to happen in Japan,” she wrote in the article.
In response to her article, Nikkan Gendai released an article to accuse her of ignorance of human rights. “Someone intolerant of those who have different problems should not be a lawmaker”, the article said. “It was very clear that she knew nothing about LGBT people and LDP supporters are supposed to get mad at her,” Livedoor News wrote in their magazine. Mio Sugita faced nationwide criticism.
After Mio Sugita faced backlash, many people did research on her political standpoints and found a video, Channel Sakura, made by a right-wing organization, Ganbare Japan, in 2015. It shows what kind of person she is. “When I was discussing school education on a TV program, I was asked whether or not we need to teach children about LGBT people and issues. So I said ‘Of course not. We don’t need to do such a thing.’ But when I said it, they told me that LGBT youths are more than six times as likely to commit suicide. Yeah but it’s not that important. We have more important things.” The video was widely shared on SNSs and it was shocking.
Her Nazi-like thoughts that value people based on productivity in terms of childbirth are nothing new. It came to light that Prime Minister Abe liked her nazi-like thoughts and she got her name on LDP’s list in 2017.
On July 24th, Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai decided not to do anything
and ignored the backlash, saying “different people have different opinions.”
Mio Sugita was lambasted by Japanese LGBT community. Many LGBT- related organizations asked for her resignation.
On July 23rd, The Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation issued a statement. “Her remarks are based on discrimination and ignorance of LGBT issues. What she believes is clear violation of human rights and LDP’s principles. We can never accept them,” they wrote in the statement.
On July 24th, eight LGBT-related organizations and two individuals in Hokkaido teamed up as Hokkaido LGBT Alliance and sent Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai a letter that asks for Mio Sugita’s resignation. Lawyers for LGBT&Allies Network issued a statement to lambaste Mio Sugita on the same day.
07/25/2018