Japanese prime minister fires aide over anti-LGBTQ+ remarks

Fumio Kishida says official's comments outrageous and completely incompatible with policies'

The Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has sacked an aide who said he would not want to live next to LGBTQ+ couples and that people would flee Japan if same-sex marriage was permitted.

In remarks reported by local media, Masayoshi Arai, an economy and trade official who joined Kishida's staff as a secretary in October, said he did not even want to look at same-sex couples.