Robert Campbell, a TV celebrity and scholar of Japanese literature publicly came out as gay Tuesday and denounced a recent string of anti-LGBT comments by ruling party lawmakers.
The frequent commentator on morning talk shows and radio said in an interview with Kyodo News that he felt "disillusioned" and "alarmed" by the comments and felt the need to ensure they did not lead to misconceptions among the public regarding sexual minorities.
Campbell was reacting to Mio Sugita, a junior member of the House of Representatives belonging to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who wrote in a magazine article published last month that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples are "unproductive," suggesting that taxpayers' money should not be spent on them.