Japan's ruling party postpones bill supporting LGBT community

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party chose not to submit to the current parliamentary session a cross-party bill that would give LGBT minorities more awareness, due to difficulties among the party's lawmakers in reaching a general agreement on some aspects of the bill, media have reported.

The difficulties would make it impossible for the bill to be passed before the end of the ordinary Diet session on June 16, the chairman of the party's General Council, Tsutomu Sato, said as reported by Kyodo News Agency.

According to the news agency, the disagreement between the party's lawmakers was due to a statement in the bill that said "discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is unacceptable."

Some Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers pointed out that the term "discrimination" was too generic and would bring forth a lot of lawsuits.

"Deliberations in the Diet operate on a tight schedule. So the General Council can't determine its direction," Sato added as quoted by Kyodo News.

The Liberal Democratic Party's decision to postpone the bill was criticized by the head of the main opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, Yukio Edano.

"As the host nation of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, it is our duty to forward legislation," Edano said.

The bill in support of LGBT rights in Japan was drafted by the Liberal Democratic Party's Special Mission Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. The committee has been aiming to pass the bill in the current Diet session prior to the start of the Olympic Games on July 23. (ANI/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )