Japan should be ‘embarrassed’ after lesbian couple get refugee status in Canada, LGBTQ advocates say

Canadian authorities have approved the couple’s refugee application, citing their ‘fear of persecution’ and other reasons

Japan lags far behind in terms of human rights protection and removing discrimination over sexuality and gender, LGBTQ advocates say

4-MIN READ4-MIN

Participants march with a banner during the Tokyo Rainbow Pride parade in support of the LGBTQ community. Photo: AP

Published: 6:30pm, 28 May 2024Updated: 9:57pm, 28 May 2024

The Japanese government should be “embarrassed” that a local lesbian couple have been recognised as refugees by the Canadian government as a result of discrimination they faced in their country, LGBTQ rights campaigners say.

The two women who were granted refugee status in Canada in September – identified only as Eri, in her 30s, and Hana, in her 50s – had their asylum applications accepted after undergoing a series of interviews and submitting a 200-page document detailing the discrimination they experienced in their workplaces and daily lives in Japan.

“I hope this helps more and more people understand the reality that women and LGBTQ people face in Japan,” Akira Nishiyama, deputy secretary general of the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation (J-ALL), told This Week in Asia. “The reality is prejudice, discrimination and no legal protections.”

The Asahi newspaper on May 18 quoted government officials in Ottawa as saying they had approved the couple’s refugee applications partly due to same-sex couples not being permitted to legally marry in Japan, not entitled to the same benefits as heterosexual couples and having a “fear of persecution” due to their sexuality.

Nishiyama, herself a lesbian, said she was aware of the problems the couple faced, which included real estate agents refusing to show LGBTQ people rental properties because “few houses are available for same-sex couples to rent.”

Supporters of the LGBTQ community pose in the Tokyo Rainbow Pride parade in Tokyo. Photo: AFP

“Their case has made me keenly aware that Japan is a long way behind in terms of human rights protection and the struggles they have faced are those that many LGBTQ people face here every day,” she said. “But that should not be our daily reality.”