Internal affairs vice minister Sugita resigns over derogatory remarks

Internal affairs vice minister Sugita Mio has submitted her resignation over discriminatory comments she had made.

The Lower House legislator had said in a magazine article that LGBT people are not productive. She had also described women wearing ethnic Korean or Ainu attire at a UN gathering as middle-aged cosplayers.

Sugita apologized for her comments in the last Diet session.

The opposition parties have been poised to go on the offensive over Sugita's slew of derogatory remarks about victims of sexual abuse, discrimination against women and waiting lists for childcare.

Sugita said she did not want to cause inconvenience and tendered her resignation to internal affairs minister Matsumoto Takeaki on Tuesday.

She will be replaced by Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Hasegawa Junji.

Source: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221227_20/