Ruling Camp to Submit LGBT Understanding Bill before G7 Summit

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japan’s ruling camp will submit a bill to promote understanding for LGBT people to parliament before the start of a Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima Friday, senior coalition officials said Monday.

The ruling bloc thinks that there is a need to demonstrate Japan’s efforts to fight for gender equality as the country is this year’s G7 chair, people familiar with the situation said.

Toshimitsu Motegi, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said that the coalition is likely to be ready to submit the bill this week.

The ruling camp “should present the bill to parliament before the G7 summit,” Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of Komeito, the LDP’s coalition partner, said at a party meeting.