Japanese politician says using tax on LGBT citizens is unproductive because they don't have children

signal · Jul 23, 2018

Mod Edit:

MikeHattsu said:
Protests right now:

Hours Left said:
Here's an article and a video of the protests outside her office.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2...itas-remark-calling-lgbt-people-unproductive/

/Mod Edit

https://twitter.com/kaedehatashima/status/1020934116919742464

House of Representatives and ruling LDP party member Mio Sugita says that using tax money on LGBT people is a waste because they are unproductive with regards to childbirth. Also laughs about suicide rates. Not too surprising since she is really far right but it's in the news and she's getting a lot of attention on social media. Don't think the LDP has formally said anything about her yet.

That interview is from 2015 but she's in the news for a recent article she wrote for a monthly magazine expressing the same opinions. There was also a BBC documentary a month or two ago called Japan's Secret Shame about rape and she criticized a woman for drinking a lot in front of men leading to the rape so she was also a bit in the news for that.

Don't think there's an english article about this situation but if interested here are some Japanese ones.
https://mainichi.jp/articles/20180722/k00/00m/040/028000c
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20180723-00010003-bfj-pol

Also I know the title contains the words Japanese and childbirth but pls limit the unrelated "open doors to immigration or its over for Japan" posts.

massoluk · Jul 23, 2018

Seems like she was involved in fake reports some years ago about Japaneses being harassed in USA

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/04/25/national/media-national/u-s-towns-pulled-japanese-politics

A recurring news story over the past several years concerns claims of the harassment of Japanese nationals residing on the East and West coasts of the United States. Most appear to have originated from municipalities where South Korean immigrants and Korean-Americans have successfully campaigned to erect statues memorializing the "comfort women," who were forced to provide sex for Japanese troops before and during World War II.
...
The longest, appearing in the May issue of the monthly opinion magazine Seiron, was written by Lower House Diet member Mio Sugita of the Japan Restoration Party and titled "Zaibei hojin ga Kankokujin ni kurushimerareru genkyo" ("The main source of what's causing Japanese in America to be tormented by Koreans").

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/dec/19/local/la-me-ln-comfort-women-20131219

Deleted member 15326 · Jul 23, 2018

I think that's the first time I've heard someone be unapologetically homophobic in keigo.

Ousting people like her will be extremely important

Infinity Times Two · Jul 23, 2018

I'm guessing Shinzo Abe has similar ideas, being in the same party?

Ratrat · Jul 23, 2018

Thankfully she is goddman unlikable moron. The usually godawaful comment section on the article is surprisingly decent for once.(relatively speaking.)

MistaTwo · Jul 23, 2018

Mio Sugita is trash. Goddamn wastewoman.

ishan · Jul 23, 2018

how does this make any sense? Isnt any person being productive supposed to be their contribution to society/economy etc? Its not about popping out babies... If that were the case India would be the most productive country ever.

signal · Jul 23, 2018

Infinity Times Two said:
I'm guessing Shinzo Abe has similar ideas, being in the same party?

Abe is pretty far right on most issues and can choose to not nominate her again but we'll see. Probably depends on how much bad press it gets. Can't have any bad news pre-Olympics!

Also Abe has no children so hopefully he doesn't agree lol.

thetrin · Jul 23, 2018

She's the fucking worst. The whole party sucks tbh.

ishan said:
how does this make any sense? Isnt any person being productive supposed to be their contribution to society/economy etc? Its not about popping out babies... If that were the case India would be the most productive country ever.

Japan's declining birthrate and future population problems are of chief concern in japan right now, so some narrowminded morons have deemed it the ONLY concern.

RetroDLC · Jul 23, 2018

By that logic, the same goes for the elderly, I'm sure that would go down well in Japan.

Lnds500 · Jul 23, 2018

I have no knowledge of JP politics, but are these opinions common in Japan?

ReginOfFire · Jul 23, 2018

So they dont have to pay tax? Is that what shes saying

signal · Jul 23, 2018

Lnds500 said:
I have no knowledge of JP politics, but are these opinions common in Japan?

I wouldn't say it's that common. At least not that extreme.

She certainly has her supporters, though they're usually droning on about Koreans.

Deleted member 15326 · Jul 23, 2018

ReginOfFire said:
So they dont have to pay tax? Is that what shes saying

She's talking about allocating taxes for LGBT education in school. She thinks it's a waste

She laughed about the LGBT suicide rate being higher

MistaTwo · Jul 23, 2018

RetroDLC said:
By that logic, the same goes for the elderly, I'm sure that would go down well in Japan.

Supposedly she hit back with "Read the full article before you judge me" and then people did and it basically turned out
the way she worded it absolutely included the elderly and couples without children. So, she's really kicked the hornet's nest on this one it seems. Heh.

Deleted member 18966 · Jul 23, 2018

when you stop seeing people as humans and just think of them as numbers/assets, Japan going too far in their quest for efficiency

danm999 · Jul 23, 2018

MistaTwo said:
Supposedly she hit back with "Read the full article before you judge me" and then people did and it basically turned out
the way she worded it absolutely included the elderly and couples without children. So, she's really kicked the hornet's nest on this one it seems. Heh.

Dunno about Japanese politics but I'm guessing it's like most democracies where alienating the grey vote is uh, dangerous.

thetrin · Jul 23, 2018

That line about "of course I went to an all girls school, so you might have a romantic relationship with another girl, but then you become normal when you grow up" made me chuckle so super fucking hard.

danm999 said:
Dunno about Japanese politics but I'm guessing it's like most democracies where alienating the grey vote is uh, dangerous.

The grey vote is gigantic in japan. It's a super dumb idea.

Mauricio_Magus · Jul 23, 2018

What a stupid/hateful person.

Grazzt · Jul 23, 2018

Fuck that ugly ass bitch

Deleted member 11517 · Jul 23, 2018

I think she doesn't want kids to be taught about this stuff, kinda what they did in Canada recently yeah?

Because she say "what's gonna happen to those kids if we teach them" in regards to being *normal*.

Eh, maybe this is clear? The title is a bit misleading.

Either way, woman seems slightly crazy, I don't think it's a good trend our politicians worldwide become more and more openly lunatic tbh...

Richter1887 · Jul 23, 2018

What a disgusting thing to say.

signal · Jul 23, 2018

kageroo said:
I think she doesn't want kids to be taught about this stuff, kinda what they did in Canada recently yeah?
Because she say "what's gonna happen to those kids if we teach them" in regards to being *normal*.
Eh, maybe this is clear? The title is a bit misleading.
Either way, woman seems slightly crazy, I don't think it's a good trend our politicians worldwide become more and more openly lunatic tbh...

It's not misleading. If a translation of the more recent article comes out I'll post it but her talking about tax usage / productivity isn't in reference to child education.

Trickster · Jul 23, 2018

If people having a children is a priority for these politician, I sorely hope they are pushing hard for laws and reforms to change the countries incredibly unhealthy work culture.

Edit - Well she's certainly seems to lack that trait called empathy

D65 · Jul 23, 2018

But straight people ain't having kids either so...

D65 · Jul 23, 2018

Fuck me the title does not go into her homophobia properly. The last thing she said was just...

I guess she's self hating

Harry Potter Obama · Jul 23, 2018

Maybe if enough people in Japan actually cared about politics something would be done about her, but I can count the number of people I've met from my generation who keep up with this stuff on one hand.

D65 · Jul 23, 2018

Something she has said in the past regarding rape: " · "There were clear errors on her part as a woman; drinking that much in front of a man and losing her memory," said Mio Sugita

Trash

D65 · Jul 23, 2018

Edit dp

Mr. Snuffleupagus · Jul 23, 2018

Grazzt said:
Fuck that ugly ass bitch

Her views are ugly enough that we shouldn't bring her looks into it. There's no need.

Hackworth · Jul 23, 2018

D65 said:
But straight people ain't having kids either so...

I think they're thinking if they shame people enough about not doing their part to maintain the japanese race, japanese people will just be like "time to have kids and keep working long shifts and prepare to fight the koreans and stop choosing to be gay" because the right wing is always run by idiots

atomsk eater · Jul 23, 2018

Ugh, why does she have such trash opinions. :( How do these people get into positions of power.

Sorta unrelated but I hate how often I've seen people express the opinions that Japanese twitter users just post art/pictures of food/game screenshots and "leave the politics out of it (implied: which is good because thinking about things scares me)", like uh you don't speak Japanese, just because you don't recognize it doesn't mean shit like this isn't happening and doesn't get talked about by JP twitter.

Deleted member 7051 · Jul 23, 2018

ishan said:
how does this make any sense? Isnt any person being productive supposed to be their contribution to society/economy etc? Its not about popping out babies... If that were the case India would be the most productive country ever.

Given how all the Japanese men are hiding in their mother's basements jerking off to Love Live and all the Japanese women are hiding in karaoke bars singing death metal to relieve stress, Japan is having no luck with the baby making.

Rather than address the actual issues of overworked staff and extraordinarily high living costs, it's easier to just blame gay people.

Mcjmetroid · Jul 23, 2018

Out of curiosity how are LGBT people received in Japan politically and culturally?
I would have thought they're quite progressive in this regard.

Easy_D · Jul 23, 2018

Japan is such a weird place, very forward thinking in some ways but also extremely backwards

atomsk eater · Jul 23, 2018

Mcjmetroid said:
Out of curiosity how are LGBT people received in Japan politically and culturally?
I would have thought they're quite progressive in this regard.

From what I understand, Japan has a culture where as long as you keep your head down and keep your business in your home people won't really get on your case about stuff, so in that way homosexual couples are somewhat free to exist. I've seen a lot of interviews where people are just kinda like "well as long as they aren't hurting anyone, you should be free to love who you want," yet there aren't a lot of legal protections for lgbt people, or the right to marry.

Wiki has this to say:

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Japan are relatively progressive by Asian standards, although LGBT people lack full legal equality.[2] Same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1880 after the installation of the Napoleonic Code and the age of consent is equal.[3] Same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are ineligible for the legal protections available to opposite-sex couples, though some cities have recently begun issuing "partnership certificates" to same-sex couples as a means to recognise their relationships.

Japanese culture and major religions originated in and imported to Japan do not have a history of hostility towards homosexuality.[4] A majority of Japanese citizens are reportedly in favor of accepting homosexuality, with a 2013 poll indicating that 54 percent agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, while 36 percent disagreed, with a large age gap.[5] Although many political parties have not openly supported or opposed LGBT rights, there are several openly LGBT politicians in office. A law allowing transgender individuals to change their legal gender post-sex reassignment surgery was passed in 2002. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is banned in certain cities.[6]

Tokyo Rainbow Pride has been held annually since 2012, with attendance increasing every year.[7] A 2015 opinion poll found that a majority of Japanese support the legalisation of same-sex marriage.[8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Japan

Cheesecakebobby · Jul 23, 2018

Mcjmetroid said:
Out of curiosity how are LGBT people received in Japan politically and culturally?
I would have thought they're quite progressive in this regard.

A majority are fine with gay marriage but there's barely anyone pushing for it to happen and the political class aren't interested. It's only the old and right wingers who seem to have strong homophobic opinions but sadly they are the ones ruling the country. However a few local governments are starting to recognize gay partnerships in certain contexts at least.

Soap · Jul 23, 2018

Mcjmetroid said:
Out of curiosity how are LGBT people received in Japan politically and culturally?
I would have thought they're quite progressive in this regard.

My understanding is there is a level of toleration, but it certainly isn;t anywhere near the level of even America let alone the rest of the G7.

Funkallero · Jul 23, 2018

D65 said:
Fuck me the title does not go into her homophobia properly. The last thing she said was just...

I guess she's self hating

Yeah that's clearly the issue.
Pretty disgusting views wrapped into this over confident right wing common sense.
"It's fine to be attracted by the same sex for fun at a young age but when you're becoming an adult everything's back to normal and you'll have sex and babies with the opposite sex" I wouldn't be surprised if this kind of view is shared by a good portion of the silent majority here.

Deleted member 19218 · Jul 23, 2018

Mcjmetroid said:
Out of curiosity how are LGBT people received in Japan politically and culturally?
I would have thought they're quite progressive in this regard.

I'm currently working and can't grab the link but I believe Ellen Page did a documentary on this. If you type something like "Ellen Page Japan" in YouTube you will probably find it.

Deleted member 11517 · Jul 23, 2018

signal said:
It's not misleading. If a translation of the more recent article comes out I'll post it but her talking about tax usage / productivity isn't in reference to child education.

Ok it's confusing though. What does she want now, remove lgbt from school or what?

Because she says not to spend money *on* lgbt education.

Could mean two things, one slightly less crazy than the other lol.

Rendering... · Jul 23, 2018

Thank God for the breeders who pick up the slack! God bless you selfless fuck machines.

It would be so great to live in a society that measures people's worth by how many babies they squirt out. Man, that would just be super.

D65 · Jul 23, 2018

kageroo said:
Ok it's confusing though. What does she want now, remove lgbt from school or what?

Because she says not to spend money *on* lgbt education.

Could mean two things, one slightly less crazy than the other lol.

the translation means there's no point in having services to protect lgbt people. let them commit suicide they're low priority

Rendering... · Jul 23, 2018

D65 said:
the translation means there's no point in having services to protect lgbt people. let them commit suicide they're low priority

A prudent policy considering nothing of worth has emanated from LGBT people, historically.

Now, if those freeloaders had a Leonardo da Vinci, or an Oscar Wilde, or an Alan Turing to their credit, that would be a different story!

D65 · Jul 23, 2018

it's the way she has a smug face doing it as well. You know full well this is the shit her peers say in private and she knows she can say it in public with little to no repercussions.

captainpat · Jul 23, 2018

Easy_D said:
Japan is such a weird place, very forward thinking in some ways but also extremely backwards

That's a lot of countries.

Mister X · Jul 23, 2018

D65 said:
But straight people ain't having kids either so...

This.

Life/work balance is one of the biggest problems in Japan. (in the west too)

Xiao Hu · Jul 23, 2018

Neither do straight Japanese

KelticNight · Jul 23, 2018

I thought Japan's problem was no-one is having children? Not just the LGBT ones.

Grazzt said:
Fuck that ugly ass bitch

Stay classy.

Deleted member 14002 · Jul 23, 2018

Damn. I misread the title and thought this thread was about not collecting money from LGBT people.

Yeah that's some bullshit.

Japanese politician says using tax on LGBT citizens is unproductive because they don't have children

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