TOKYO - Over the past year and a half or so, Japan has held three national elections, and after each result a familiar postmortem has circulated among both liberals and conservatives who lost seats: "We lost because we raised the importance of diversity," and "We should have prioritized economic issues directly tied to people's lives instead."
To the author, who works to eliminate discrimination related to sexual and gender diversity and to secure legal protections for the rights of sexual and gender minorities, such claims sound profoundly off the mark. More than the electoral fortunes of any party, it is deeply alarming to see the entrenched misconception that leads politics to separate "diversity" and "the economy and everyday life" as if they were in opposition.
Seeing them as "in conflict" badly misreads reality. The rights protections the author and others seek are themselves among the most urgent economic issues, directly affecting everyday necessities such as housing, work and money.
Housing is one example. Even today, cases persist in which landlords refuse to rent to same-sex couples, and it has been reported in recent years that real estate dealers have openly stated that "LGBT are not allowed" in their internal systems and property documents.
Because housing is the minimum foundation for a dignified life, exclusion based on personal characteristics is nothing less than a serious economic and social loss that threatens the right to live.
Gaps in social security also directly squeeze household finances. In one reported case, a National Health Insurance enrollee saw their premiums jump after starting to live with a same-sex partner covered by employees' health insurance because their incomes were combined for household assessment purposes.
In a recognized heterosexual common-law marriage, one partner may be covered as a dependent, but this is not the case in a same-sex relationship. Despite functioning as a family, same-sex couples are excluded from legal protections, while their financial burden grows -- an irrationality that remains unaddressed.
Discrimination in hiring and workplace harassment are also severe. Consultation services receive many cases of people quitting after experiencing health deterioration due to discriminatory remarks, falling into hardship and ultimately losing their housing. These issues are not merely a matter of individual attitudes, but rather a clear "risk of poverty" produced by flawed social structures.
Nevertheless, respect for diversity in schools and workplaces is often reduced to a matter of mindset, such as "treating people with compassion" or "being mindful not to hurt others."
Superficial consideration will not solve the problem given harsh living realities. What is needed are rules and legal standards that clearly reject discrimination, as well as the professional capacity to carefully assess complex individual circumstances and deliver effective responses.
In elections, diversity is rarely discussed as a "livelihood issue." Nevertheless, on social media and elsewhere, baseless claims circulate that "only diversity is being talked about."
One factor may be a growing social tendency -- amplified in recent years by social media -- to discount facts and settle debates with intuitive impressions alone.
It is essential to grasp complex problems based on facts and work persistently toward solutions across all policy areas. I'd like to emphasize that diversity policies are not just abstract ideals, but intensely practical issues that support people's survival.
(Yuichi Kamiya, born in 1985, is a representative director of the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation since June 2025. He completed a master's program at Hitotsubashi University's Graduate School of Sociology and is also a designated associate member of the Science Council of Japan.)
