G7

to deflect criticism that his conservative Liberal Democratic party is trapped in a cycle of
intolerance as the summit approaches, yet few believe that Japan’s moment in the
international spotlight will

values.

In response, Takako Uesugi, co-leader of a group of lawyers representing plaintiffs in

Tokyo court cases seeking marriage equality, said Kishida’s ambiguity on sexual
minority rights was tantamount to “approving of discrimination”.

Makiko Terahara, an equal marriage campaigner, speaks at a press conference in Tokyo in

February. Photograph: Yoshio Tsunoda/AFLO/REX/Shutterstock
Activists are ramping up the pressure as the clock ticks down to the G7 leaders’ summit
in Hiroshima.

At a Pride 7 summit in Tokyo last week, campaigners called on Japan to enact an anti-
discrimination law before it hosts the G7, and end the country’s unenviable status as the
only member of the group that does not have a law protecting LGBTQ+ rights.

“The legislation is not only a minimum requirement for [LGBTQ+] people to be able to
be who they are, but also a symbolic step toward eliminating underlying discrimination
and prejudice against them,” Makiko Terahara, of the equal rights group Marriage for
All Japan, said at the summit, which was also attended by officials from G7 countries
and the European Union.

Natsuo Hayashi, co-director of the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation, said at the
campaign’s launch: “Other G7 members are watching if Japan enacts an anti-
discrimination law.”

The government is also coming under external pressure, with the US ambassador to
Japan, Rahm Emanuel, calling for “clear, unambiguous” legislation to protect sexual
minorities before the current parliamentary session ends in June. In a letter to Kishida,
ambassadors from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Britain, the US and the EU called on
Japan to “match its international advocacy for human rights with a domestic agenda
that includes steps to protect its own LGBTQI+ communities”.

Yet Kishida faces