Japan's lower house on Tuesday passed a bill that aims to promote understanding of the LGBTQ community.
Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo
June 13 (UPI) -- Japan's lower house on Tuesday passed a bill that promotes understanding of the LGBTQ community in the country, meaning it could be enacted by next week.
Japan lags behind the other Group of Seven advanced nations in terms of legal protections for sexual minorities, and this bill aims to change that. It would ban discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation.
According to NHK World-Japan, officials from the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito, as well as the Nippon Ishin Japan Innovation Party and the Democratic Party for the People agreed on a revised version of the bill.
However, some Constitutional Democratic Party, the Japanese Communist Party and Reiwa Shinsengum voted against it, saying it didn't go far enough.
The revised version approved by the Lower House says "there should be no unfair discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity."
Last week a district court in Fukuoka Japan has ruled that failure to legally recognize same-sex marriage presents Japan with "an unconstitutional situation."
Judge Hiroyuki Ueda said not having legal unions for same-sex couples is at odds with Article 24 of the Japanese constitution that says marriage matters should be based on "individual dignity and the essential equality of the sexes."
The judge ruled, however, that the current legal framework on marriage does not violate Article 14 of the constitution, which ensures equality under the law, contradicting a May ruling by the Nagoya District Court.
The judge on Thursday also denied claims of $7,140 in damages sought by three couples who brought the case.
Japan is the only G7 nation that has failed to legalize marriage equality.
June 13 (UPI) -- Japan's lower house on Tuesday passed a bill that promotes understanding of the LGBTQ community in the country, meaning it could be enacted by next week.
Japan lags behind the other Group of Seven advanced nations in terms of legal protections for sexual minorities, and this bill aims to change that. It would ban discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation.
According to NHK World-Japan, officials from the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito, as well as the Nippon Ishin Japan Innovation Party and the Democratic Party for the People agreed on a revised version of the bill.
However, some Constitutional Democratic Party, the Japanese Communist Party and Reiwa Shinsengum voted against it, saying it didn't go far enough.
The revised version approved by the Lower House says "there should be no unfair discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity."
Last week a district court in Fukuoka Japan has ruled that failure to legally recognize same-sex marriage presents Japan with "an unconstitutional situation."
Judge Hiroyuki Ueda said not having legal unions for same-sex couples is at odds with Article 24 of the Japanese constitution that says marriage matters should be based on "individual dignity and the essential equality of the sexes."
The judge ruled, however, that the current legal framework on marriage does not violate Article 14 of the constitution, which ensures equality under the law, contradicting a May ruling by the Nagoya District Court.
The judge on Thursday also denied claims of $7,140 in damages sought by three couples who brought the case.
Japan is the only G7 nation that has failed to legalize marriage equality.
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