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# LGBTQ+ activists in Japan launch petition for equality law
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/lgbtq-activists-in-japan-launch-petition-for-equality-law/
- Published: 2020-10-17T09:30:12.000Z
- Updated: 2020-10-17T07:33:32.000Z
- Description: The Japan Alliance for LGBTQ+ Legislation launched a petition on Thursday 15 October in collaboration with various LGBTQ+ activists in the country to demand an official LGBTQ+ equality law is implemented in time for the Tokyo Olympics next year.
- Author: Rachel Badham
- Tags: News, Politics, Sport, japan, LGBTQ, Tokyo

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/olympics600.jpg)

The **Japan Alliance for LGBTQ+ Legislation** launched a petition on **Thursday 15 October** in collaboration with various LGBTQ+ activists in the country to demand an official LGBTQ+ equality law is implemented in time for the **Tokyo** Olympics next year. The petition was announced in a press conference by **Fumino Sugiyama**, a trans activist and former Olympic fencer.

**Yuri Igarashi**, a representative of the Japan Alliance, told **[The Japan Times](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/10/16/national/social-issues/lgbt-groups-equality-law/?ref=scenemag.co.uk)** about the lack of legal protections for the queer Japanese population: *“In this country, equal rights for LGBTQ+ people are not guaranteed by law or in their social lives. We call for the passage of an LGBTQ+ equality law in time for the Tokyo Games, and as an Olympic legacy.”*

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/tokyo.jpg)

**[The Pride House Tokyo Legacy](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/lgbtq-information-centre-to-open-in-tokyo/)**, an LGBTQ+ community and information centre, was officially opened on **October 11** in time for the 2021 Olympics, but activists are calling for the government to increase legal protections against discrimination. Japan currently ranks among the lowest among **OECD** (an international economic organisation) countries for LGBTQ+ equality and [recently](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/tokyo-politician-blames-lgbtq-community-for-falling-birth-rates/) a Tokyo politician, **Masateru Shiraishi**, faced backlash after suggesting same-sex couples were responsible for falling birth rates in the country.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/tokyo-pride-600-400.jpg)