Japanese lawmaker under fire for LGBT comment

TOKYO – A Japanese legislator is drawing criticism for his comment that "a nation would collapse" if everyone became LGBT.

Remarks by Katsuei Hirasawa, a veteran lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, were carried on Nippon News Network's national broadcast Friday. Outrage has been popping up on social media.

Hirasawa told a crowd in Yamanashi Prefecture in central Japan on Thursday: "Criticizing LGBT would create problems, but if everyone became like them then a nation would collapse."

He also said he didn't understand moves in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward and other local areas to recognize same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriages are not recognized in Japan nationally.

Politicians have been struggling to deal with Japan's low birth rate without success, mostly blamed on a lack of child care and help for working women.