The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) may have just lost the vote of the LGBT community, if you put stock in a survey conducted by Rainbow Pride Ehime. It came out in the survey that the LDP thinks that gays do not need additional measures to protect their rights. The five other major parties participating in the December 16 election believed otherwise.
Rainbow Pride Ehime, a sexual minority advocacy group, sent out questionnaires to the headquarters of the Lower House with multiple-choice questions about issues concerning sexual minorities. “Measures are necessary for people with gender identity disorder but not for homosexuals” was the LDP’s reply to the question regarding “the need for measures to protect the human rights of sexual minorities”.
The five other parties – the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), New Komeito, Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party), the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party – chose the option “Active enlightenment and measures are necessary”.
The LDP also answered “These systems should be intended for heterosexual couples” when prompted about the issue of social security and inheritance benefits to same-sex couples. Nippon Ishin and SDP said that homosexuals should be eligible for marriage while JCP said that a partnership should be both for heterosexuals and homosexuals. The DPJ and New Komeito opted to not answer the issue.
All six parties agreed that elimination of discrimination and prejudice against sexual minorities should be taught in schools by creating programs to teach sexual diversity. The response of the new party Nippon Mirai no To (Tomorrow Party of Japan) did not arrive in time for the official tally since they were only officially recognized last November 28.