Japanese Prime Minister's Aide Leaving Over LGBTQ Remarks

A senior aide to Japan's prime minister is being dismissed after making discriminatory remarks about LGBTQ people.
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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters Saturday that Masayoshi Arai, a secretary at his office, was being dismissed after Arai recently told Japanese media he did not like seeing LGBTQ people. Arai retracted his comments and apologized on Friday.
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Kishida said the remarks run counter to the administration's position on promoting diversity.?
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“Taking strong action is inevitable,” Kishida said without providing further details, meaning Arai may leave voluntarily.
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Arai's remarks prompted an outburst of protest and were the latest in a string of gaffes by Japanese officials that have landed them in trouble.
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Saving face is important in conformist Japan, where prejudice against LGBTQ people, racial groups, women, and other nationalities persists.
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Japan is the only Group of Seven countries that do not recognize same-sex marriage, but the movement toward recognition has been growing.?
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Kishida's administration has been hit by several scandals recently, and its popularity is shaky.
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Various Japanese officials have resigned over the years over comments they made.?
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A justice minister stepped down last year after joking about capital punishment.?
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In 2021, Yoshiro Mori resigned as head of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee after saying women talked too much. Mori had been gaffe-prone when he earlier served as prime minister, about 20 years ago.?
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A minister in charge of cybersecurity who acknowledged he had hardly ever used a computer resigned in 2019.?