LGBTQ+ Rights and Diversity in Asia: The Current Situation and Its Challenges
Today, even as human rights and the advancement of gender and sexual diversity are gradually being understood and recognized, prejudice persists in many places.
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Today, even as human rights and the advancement of gender and sexual diversity are gradually being understood and recognized, it is undeniable that prejudice still exists in many places. LGBTQ+ people in Asia, in particular, often face expressions that reflect discrimination based on their sexual orientation. This is the current situation around Asia regarding that issue.
TOKYO, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday dismissed an aide who said he did not want to live alongside lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender couples and warned that people would flee Japan if same-sex marriage were legally recognized.
LGBTQ+ couples in Asia
In remarks reported by local media, Masayoshi Arai—an economy and trade official who joined Kishida's staff as a secretary in October—added that he did not even want to see same-sex couples. “His comments were outrageous and completely at odds with the government's policy,” Kishida said in remarks aired on the public broadcaster NHK.
The Japanese leader told reporters the following day that he had dismissed Arai, who had apologized on Friday for comments that “caused misunderstanding.” Arai's remarks came after Kishida had told parliament that same-sex marriage, or marriage equality, needed to be considered carefully because it could affect the structure of the family.
Support for LGBTQ+ couples in Asia
The incident was awkward for Kishida as he prepared to host other leaders of the Group of Seven in May. Unlike Japan—governed for nearly seven decades by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)—the other G7 countries allow marriage or civil partnerships for same-sex couples. In addition, according to a recent poll, public support for Kishida had fallen to about 30% since the previous year, following the resignations of senior officials caught up in scandals.
Among those who stepped down was Mio Sugita, a vice-minister for internal affairs and communications, who resigned in December over controversial comments about LGBT people and Japan's indigenous Ainu community.
In a survey released by NHK in July 2021, two months before Kishida took office as prime minister, 57% of the 1,508 respondents said they supported legal recognition of same-sex partnerships. Because they are not allowed to marry, same-sex couples cannot inherit each other's property and are denied parental rights over each other's children.
In November, a Tokyo court ruled against same-sex marriage, but also said that the lack of legal protection for same-sex families violated their human rights.
South Korean court recognizes the rights of same-sex couples for the first time
In a landmark case, the Seoul High Court found that the state health insurer owed spousal coverage to its customer after the insurer had withdrawn that coverage upon learning the couple were gay. The two held a wedding ceremony in 2019, but same-sex marriage is not recognized in South Korea.
Activists said the ruling was a major step forward for LGBT rights in the country, though the case will proceed to the Supreme Court. So Seong-wook, the plaintiff, said he welcomed the decision and its “recognition of very clear rights that had not yet been granted.”
In 2021, he sued the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) after it denied coverage to Kim Yongmin, his spouse. The couple had initially been granted coverage under the policy, but it was later revoked after NHIS said it had made a mistake in covering a same-sex couple. Celebrating the ruling, Mr. So praised the court for recognizing that “the principle of equality is a key issue.”
“I think it carries great meaning for LGBTQ+ people who have faced discrimination, for those who support them, and for everyone who has ever been discriminated against,” he told the BBC.
Coverage for same-sex spouses
The Seoul High Court overturned the lower court's ruling, finding that spousal coverage under NHIS is not limited only to families as defined by law. It also found that denying benefits to same-sex couples amounts to discrimination. “Everyone can be a minority in one way or another. Being in the minority means being different from the majority, and that does not make it acceptable to wrong them,” the court's ruling read.
“In a society governed by the majority, recognizing the rights of minorities and striving to protect them is essential.” A Human Rights Watch report from last year found that discrimination against LGBT people in South Korean society remained “widespread,” with same-sex couples—who have no legal marital status—often excluded from government benefits available to married couples.
After the court's decision on Tuesday, Amnesty International issued a statement saying, “There is still a long way to go to end discrimination against the LGBTI community, but this decision offers hope that prejudice can be overcome.”
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For now, South Korea still has no marriage equality of its own, and the rights of LGBTQ+ people continue to be threatened all too often. But activists in South Korea say that “time will change everything”—and that is the human rights struggle underway in Seoul.
Sources: BBC NEWS, NBC NEWS
Verified references
Links and relevance to the article’s main topic were reviewed on 13 August 2026. Each source supports only the scope stated in the original document and does not replace personalised medical, legal, or service advice.
- OHCHR: LGBT rights fact sheet Accessed 13 August 2026
