(New York) - A move to eliminate “sexual orientation” from a Japanese city's groundbreaking antidiscrimination ordinance would be a damaging blow to the cause of full equality, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the city’s mayor. The city assembly of Miyakonojo will begin debating the proposed changes tomorrow.
“Rights should never be subject to repeal,” said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “A city that became a model of progress by affirming equal rights must not break its promises now.”
In 2003 the southern Japanese city of Miyakonojo, located in Miyazaki prefecture, became one of the first cities in the country to include “sexual orientation” in its gender-equality ordinance. The national “Basic Law for a Gender-Equal Society,” passed by Japan’s Diet in 1999, required local governments to develop laws and policies promoting equality between men and women. While the national law did not mention sexual orientation, Miyakonojo ‘s ordinance stated: “In the gender-equal society, for all people irrespective of gender and sexual orientation, human rights should be fully respected.”
Early this year, Miyakonojo was consolidated with three other towns, and officials agreed that all ordinances passed before that date would undergo review. After a closed process, with no invitation for citizens or LGBT groups to present their views to the city assembly in hearings, a revision was proposed in which references to “gender” and “sexual orientation” were both dropped from key articles of the ordinance. The city’s website states that the revision is meant “to simplify the contents.”
“The city of Miyakonojo led by example,” said Long. “It cannot retreat in the face of prejudice now.”
