No LGBTQ Measures at Half of Workplaces in Japan: Survey

Tokyo, March 16 (Jiji Press)–No specific measures have been taken for sexual minorities at half of their workplaces in Japan, even after the June 2023 enforcement of a law to promote public understanding for such people, a survey has shown. According to the survey covering some 2,000 LGBTQ people over the three years to 2024, 54.9 pct of the respondents said in the final year that their workplaces did not have any specific measures for such people. LGBTQ is short for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer, or questioning. Still, the figure slightly improved from 57.2 pct in 2022 and 60.4 pct in 2023, according to the survey, conducted by Nijiiro Diversity, a nonprofit organization working for sexual minorities. The share of respondents who came out as sexual minorities at work changed little for transgender people, standing at 56.4 pct in 2022, 53.3 pct in 2023 and 54.3 pct in 2024. For other sexual minorities, the share stood at 39.9 pct in 2024, down from 42.8 pct in 2022 and 45.8 pct in 2023. The percentage of transgender people who saw or heard someone at school or work talking negatively about living as a person who changed their assigned sex rose over the period, from 37.4 pct in 2022 to 43.4 pct in 2023 to 47.4 pct in 2024. Maki Muraki, director of Nijiiro Diversity, said that not many companies have taken measures for sexual minorities in Japan because the law’s binding power is weak. “It’s necessary to secure places where such individuals can feel secure as well as a consultation system, given that discrimination against those people is on the rise,” Muraki said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]