Japanese politician faces backlash for claiming LGBT education 'would mean no more children'

Masateru Shiraishi has not retracted comments despite online backlash

The backlash against Mr Shiraishi reflects the polarising issue of LGBT+ rights in Japan (RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images)

A member of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Masateru Shiraishi, is facing a severe online backlash after commenting that his ward would cease to exist if LGBT+ rights were protected by law.

Shiraishi, who was called a dinosaur on social media for his comments, has so far not refuted or retracted his statement despite objections from his own party. "This is impossible, but if all Japanese women were lesbian or all Japanese men were gay, then do you think the next generation of people will be born?" Mr Shiraishi said at a 25 September assembly session of Tokyo's Adachi Ward, The Japan Times reported.  

The low fertility rate is a significant problem in Japan. It is an issue that remains prevalent even as the Japanese government has taken measures to overcome it over the last few decades. In 2019, the Asian country recorded a total fertility rate of 1.36, with just over 865,000 babies born – a record low.  

But Takeru Shimodaira, a member of Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation, which is demanding a law to ban discrimination, asked Mr Shiraishi to correct his remark, noting that it was “based on discrimination and prejudice, as LGBT people are not responsible for Japan's decreasing birthrate".

This is not the first time that Japanese politicians have faced a backlash over such comments. In 2018, another leader, Mio Sugita, faced criticism for opposing the government’s support for same-sex couples.

The backlash against Mr Shiraishi reflects the polarising issue of LGBT+ rights in Japan. The country still does not legally recognise same-sex marriage, although campaigning by the LGBT+ community and its allies has led to progressive measures including the availability of so-called “partnership certificates” in many municipalities.

A global acceptance index of the LGBT+ community released in 2019 noted that globally Japan is among the countries such as Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, and the United States where acceptance of LGBT+ people and their rights has increased. However, it had revealed that even as Japan witnessed an increase in acceptance, it has had a “slower rate of change, and it seems that, in 2017, acceptance levels were slightly lower than in 2016 and 2015”.  

Preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, had brought LGBT+ issues into the limelight as Tokyo passed an ordinance to protect LGBT+ visitors from potential abuse.  

Although there has been a consistent pressure on Japan’s government to pass better laws to protect the LGBT+ community, it has thus far resisted. In April, earlier this year, about 100 human rights and LGBT+ organisations wrote to then-prime minister Shinzo Abe demanding such a law be instated.