The Japan Alliance for LGBTQ+ Legislation launched a petition on Thursday 15 October in collaboration with various LGBTQ+ activists in the country to demand an official LGBTQ+ equality law is implemented in time for the Tokyo Olympics next year.
The petition was announced in a press conference by Fumino Sugiyama, a trans activist and former Olympic fencer.Yuri Igarashi, a representative of the Japan Alliance, told The Japan Times about the lack of legal protections for the queer Japanese population: “In this country, equal rights for LGBTQ+ people are not guaranteed by law or in their social lives.