[Translation]

Legal Eyesight
What corporate legal departments can do for LGBT and its allies
Nomura Holdings, Inc.
Senior Managing Director, Chief Legal Officer
Yasushi Takayama“LGBT” is a term more frequently seen and heard in the last couple of years. LGBT is an
initialism for sexual minorities, namely lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons. While
research conducted by the Dentsu Diversity Lab (2015) found that 7.6% of the Japanese
population is LGBT, it seems a majority of Japanese people think that this does not apply to thepeople around them. The reality, however, is that many LGBT persons cannot be identified byappearance or voice, and they simply “cannot come out" due to deeply-rooted societal prejudice.
Here is where “allies” play an important role. The word “ally” originates from Middle English(bond, supporter) and refers to an advocate who understands LGBT and other sexual minorities
and thinks about and acts on what he/she can do [for the LGBT community]. With regard tocorporations, in addition to tangible measures such as insisting on prohibition of discrimination
against LGBT in the ethics code and equal treatment of same-sex partners as spouses underhuman resource policy, an intangible improvement in the form of allies at work can also relieve
anxiety and create a truly worker-friendly workplace. My company has an active internal
network in which employees voluntarily participate under the slogan of “Let’s become an ally!"
I myself have become an ally and support [LGBT co-workers]. As I was thinking of ways tofurther contribute to society as a person in charge of legal affairs, I learned of “Lawyers forLGBT and Allies Network (LLAN)” and joined this group in the fall of 2016. LLAN’s previous
projects include drafting and submitting the “Foreign Law Report On Equal Marriage” to theNichibenren [Japan Federation of Bar Associations], presenting at the “Rainbow Law StudyGroup” held by Tokyo Rainbow Pride in 2017, and holding panel discussions with various
guests, networking events, and film screenings. In September of this year, LLAN will also host a“LGBT Rights in the Asia-Pacific” lunch session at the LAWASIA Conference – Tokyo 2017.
As part of its recommendation titled “Toward the Realization of a Diverse and Inclusive Society”
published on May 16 of this year, the Keidanren posted the following results of a survey ofmember companies: “More than 90% of companies recognize the need for efforts on LGBTissues” and “Three-fourths of companies are already carrying out or planning to start measures
on LGBT issues.” Given that the response rate to the survey was only 15%, however, there isroom here for the Association of Corporate Legal Departments to contribute.
Specifically, collaboration between the group of legal professionals (including LGBT members)
who have joined LLAN and the Association of Corporate Legal Departments, comprised of inhouse legal experts, can be expected to accelerate efforts by Japanese corporate society, promote
work environments where sexual minorities can proactively express their individuality, and letworkers in such environment in turn facilitate understanding and acceptance among family
members and friends.
Further progress can also be seen overseas, where there are cases of private enterprises uniting tosupport LGBT persons. For example, at the time of the 2015 landmark Obergefell decision in[Translation]
which the United States Supreme Court held that prohibition of same-sex marriage isunconstitutional, 379 major corporations and organizations (including 40 of the Fortune 100companies) submitted a brief essentially stating that the prohibition of same-sex marriage
prevents private enterprises from securing highly-qualified employees, and could even hamper
economic growth. Japan could be presented with a similar opportunity in the future, and when it
is, I believe a collaborative assembly of persons in charge of legal affairs of the 1,200 member
companies under the Association of Corporate Legal Departments would provide a significant
boost.