Gay sex will destroy society, says Japanese MP
Sugita is in her second term (Mio Sugita/Facebook)
A Japanese MP has sparked a backlash after writing that same-sex relationships will lead people to marry their pets and eventually destroy society.
Mio Sugita, a lawmaker for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who sits in the House of Representatives, made the comments in an article called “The level of support for ‘LGBT’ is too high.”
Japan is relatively accepting of LGBT people compared to other Asian countries, with eight cities and city wards including Fukuoka and Sapporo having legally recognised same-sex unions.
Same-sex unions have gained legal recognition in some parts of Japan (YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty)
Authorities have also started to introduce genderless uniforms into schools across the country, but this gradual progress has attracted criticism from Sugita, who asked: “Why can’t we just stick to two sexes – male and female?”
She also argued against gay people benefiting from public spending, according to The Japan Times.
The 51-year-old politician, who is in her second term, said the government shouldn’t use taxpayers’ money to support same-sex couples because “these men and women don’t bear children — in other words, they are ‘unproductive.’”
Sugita with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (mio sugita/facebook)
And Sugita warned that giving even broader legal recognition to gay partners would lead to people engaging in bestiality, incest and sex with objects.
“If we recognise different sexual interests, then it will lead to calls for allowing marriage between siblings, marriages between parents and children, or even marriages to pets or machinery,” she wrote, according to The Mainichi.
This sentiment is similar to that expressed last year by Jeff Mateer, US President Donald Trump’s nominee for a federal judgeship in Texas, who said same-sex marriage would lead to people marrying trees and their pets.
Sugita said: “Why can’t we just stick to two sexes – male and female?” (mio sugita/facebook)
She also wrote about her experience attending an all-girls during the four-page article, recalling that the students were often attracted to each other, but would eventually marry husbands and have “normal” lives.
Sugita predicted that people who promote LGBT rights “could make people capable of enjoying normal romance and getting married believe that they have an option of going homosexual.”
She said this would “risk increasing unhappy people.”
The politician concluded with the message that “a society deprived of ‘common sense’ and ‘normalcy’ is destined to lose ‘order’ and eventually collapse. I don’t want Japan to be a society like this.”
Sugita said gay relationships would lead the collapse of society (mio sugita/facebook)
In response, Taiga Ishikawa – who became the country’s first openly gay politician in 2011 – said that Sugita’s comments “significantly tarnish Japan’s reputation.”
Ishikawa, who is a member of the Toshima Ward Assembly, added: “Homosexuality is not the definition of unhappiness.
“It’s discriminatory remarks like Sugita’s that make us unhappy.”
Kanako Otsuji, who was Japan’s first lesbian politician in 2007, also condemned Sugita’s article.
Japan’s first lesbian lawmaker, Kanako Otsuji (YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty)
The LGBT rights pioneer, who also sits in the House of Representatives, tweeted: “I would like to point out that people belonging to sexual minorities also pay taxes.
“The life of every single person carries value.”
The Secretary General of Sugita’s party, Toshihiro Nikai, failed to condemn the article in a press conference yesterday.
Nikai told reporters that diversity should be broadly accepted, but added: “Different people have different views, let alone their political positions.”
